Blood Red
by MisterMisfortune
Summary: Innocent people are being murdered because of something the Xiaolin Warriors have done, but they don't know why. Can they find out who is committing the murders and why before the monks become the next victim?  Rated just in case :/ Slight RaiXKim
1. The Beginning

**I don't really watch Xiaolin Showdown anymore but I have been watching them all again just to reminisce and that made me want to write again, for old time's sake, so I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or any of the characters taken from the show**

**Summary: Innocent people are being murdered because of something the Xiaolin Warriors have done, but they don't know why. Can they find out who is committing the murders and why before the monks become the next victim?**

**Blood Red**

**Chapter 1**

**The Beginning**

_My work completed, I wiped my gloved hands on the hem of my tattered shirt and looked around at the destruction, a small smile playing across my lips. The Xiaolin Monks couldn't ignore this and neither could anyone else. They'd get the blame. They should do, after all, it _is _their fault. We'll see how the mighty Xiaolin Warriors do knowing they're more hated than the infamous Chase Young._

"_And they won't even know who did it," I said to myself and my small smile stretched to a grin. They probably don't even know me. That annoys me, but I suppose it does mean it'll be harder for them to work out who's getting them in trouble. It'll give me more time. With one last glance around the wreckage, my grin still in place, I left the house and made my escape before the police showed up. _

"Star Hinarbi!" Kimiko cried. She threw the Star like a frisbee at Omi, fire spitting from its points. It circled around the small monk, trapping him in a flaming ring. Omi sprang into the air.

"Orb of Tornami!" he called. Water poured from the small orb, dousing the flames, then snaked towards the Dragon of fire in a river-like form. It raised up, now more like a snake than a river and smashed into her like a tidal wave. Kimiko was sent flying backwards, where she hit the temple grounds' high wall and slid to the ground, dripping.

"Nice one Omi," she sighed.

"Kimiko, you must learn, water will _always _beat fire, so you can never beat me," Omi said smartly. "That is why I am more powerful than you. That and the fact that you're a girl."

"Haven't I already proved that just because I'm a girl it doesn't mean I'm not as strong as you?" Kimiko snapped.

"Yeah, you proved that when you lost the last Showdown to Spicer," Raimundo said strolling over. Kimiko glared at him and she got to her feet and swept her soaking fringe from her blue eyes.

"Young Monks," Master Fung said as he approached Kimiko, Raimundo and Omi, Dojo curled around his shoulders and Clay following behind. "You are wanted at the local police station."

"Why's that?" Raimundo asked, running his hand through his hair.

"There has been a murder. The authorities believe it has something to do with you," Master Fung replied.

"We haven't killed anyone!" Kimiko exclaimed.

"I know that," Master Fung said calmly. "But you must go and answer their questions."

"Can I at least get dried first?" Kimiko asked.

After Kimiko and dried her hair and changed her clothes, the four warriors were astride Dojo, heading for the police station.

"What do you think's happened?" Clay asked.

"Beats me," Raimundo shrugged. Dojo descended from the sky and landed in the car park, attracting frightened glances.

"We really should start landing where we're not going to attract attention," Raimundo said.

They were greeted at the entrance by an officer named Officer Claiborne. He led them into the building and down a well lit corridor into a small, square room lit by harsh white lights. There was nothing in this room except a small table and several chairs. A woman was already seated at the table.

"I'm Officer Roberts," she said in a strict, no-nonsense voice. She indicated the chairs and the warriors sat down. Officer Claiborne took a seat next to Officer Roberts, facing the warriors.

"Last night, two people were murdered in their own home," Officer Roberts said.

"What's that got to do with us?" Raimundo asked.

"We were hoping you could tell us that," Officer Claiborne said. He placed a photograph on the table facing the warriors. They gasped. The photograph showed a man and a woman lying on the floor of what looked like their living room, although the surroundings were completely ruined. There was smashed glass on the floor and there was a large tear in the arm of the sofa that was just poking onto the corner of the picture, spilling stuffing onto the litter of glass. A rubbish bin had been upturned and its contents scattered everywhere. The couple themselves had been stabbed and mutilated and lay in a puddle of their own blood. On the wall behind them, written in dripping letters in what was clearly the couple's blood, were the words _"Xiaolin Warriors"_.

Kimiko looked away, her face pale.

"We were wondering if you might know anything about this?" Officer Claiborne said. Omi shook his head.

"Any idea who might want revenge on you?" Officer Roberts asked. Omi shook his head again.

"We don't even know who those poor fellas were," Clay said sadly.

"Mr and Mrs Rogan were forty-three years old. They have a twenty year old son away at college in England," Officer Roberts said. The four monks looked at her solemnly.

"Surely you must have some idea who did it," Kimiko said.

"There were no clues left at the murder scene," Officer Claiborne replied. "Not even a single fingerprint. Whoever this guy is, he's very clever."

The warriors flew back the temple in silence, each wondering the same thing; who had they annoyed so much they wanted to get revenge by killing innocent people? Who did they know that was clever enough to not leave a single clue at the crime scene? Were they going to kill again?

Dojo landed on the temple lawn and shrink as the warriors climbed off. No one spoke a word as they entered the temple and retreated to their bedrooms for the rest of the day, plagued by guilt from a murder they did not commit nor have any clue as to why it was committed.

"Jack! How are we going to take over the world when all you do is watch television?" Wuya raged, hovering in front of the television.

"I'm allowed a break," Jack said indignantly, wafting away the purple ghostly form.

"You can have a break when you've actually done something constructive! And I don't mean building useless robots!" Wuya screeched. Jack ignored her.

"_A married couple were stabbed to death in their own home on the night of August 14__th__"_ the newsreader on the television read. A photograph of the crime scene filled the screen and Jack and Wuya gasped.

"What have they done?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, but it'll be fun finding out," Wuya cackled. Jack just looked at her.

"I don't get what's funny," he said sadly.

"Wake up Jackie; they must have _really_ annoyed someone to make them do _that_!" Wuya said exasperatedly. "They might even be the next victims!"

"...Oh...I knew that," Jack said shyly. Then he began to laugh.

**I know it's a bit short but I hope you enjoyed it. I have far too much time on my hands now so chapter two should be up quite soon. Sorry about any spelling mistakes or typos. Please review!**


	2. Crown of Darkness

**Two in one night, we are on a roll. Only really because I've got nothing else to do and it's now twenty to two in the morning. All tomorrow will probably be spent in the same way. What a sad life I lead. Never mind, I hope you like it. Again, sorry about spelling mistakes and typos.**

**Chapter 2**

**Crown of Darkness**

The only sound in the temple kitchen was the sound of the Xiaolin Monks wolfing down their dinner. Clay belched loudly then continued eating. Dojo slithered into the kitchen, the Ancient Scroll clasped in his small hands.

"New Wu kids!" he cried, climbing up onto the table.

"Not during dinner time, Dojo!" Clay said, spraying the dragon with half chewed food.

"Well sorry Clay, I'm sure the Wu and Jack Spicer will just wait until you've finished filling your faces," Dojo said, wiping his face clean.

"Alright, we're coming," Raimundo sighed, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"What is it?" Kimiko asked. Dojo unrolled the scroll.

"It's The Crown of Darkness," he said mysteriously. "It submerges everything into total darkness, but allows the wearer to still see perfectly. It'd be good for a quick getaway."

"Then let's get it before Spicer does," Raimundo said.

"Yes, we must not let our enemies get their hands on this Shen Gong Wu," Omi said determinedly as he left the room.

Dojo soared past the fluffy clouds, heading for England. He landed on the pavement next to a small field full of trees next to some old looking bungalows and a main road. The warriors split up and began looking around for the Shen Gong Wu until they heard the familiar sound of Jack Spicer's helibot approaching.

"Jack Spicer, prepare for a humiliating defeat!" Omi cried.

"Hey, don't hurt me! I don't want any trouble!" Jack squealed, holding up his hands. Then he began to laugh. "I can't believe you got someone killed! You're even more useless than me!"

"We had nothing to do with it!" Kimiko snapped.

"Apparently not," Wuya sneered.

"Just put of interest, you don't happen to know who did it do you?" Raimundo asked curiously.

"Search me," Jack shrugged. "I'd like to shake their hand though!"

"Enough! Just find the Crown on Darkness!" Wuya demanded. Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Jackbots, keep the murderers busy!" Jack ordered. Five Jackbots shot at the warriors, their arms becoming razor sharp blades, spinning so fast they were nothing but a blur. Two of them headed straight for Kimiko from different directions. She waited until they were seconds away then jumped and clung onto a tree branch, hauling herself out of harm's way as the two robots crashed into each other and fell to the ground in ruins.

"Typhoon boom, wind!" Raimundo cried. A powerful gust of wind caught a Jackbot and threw it backwards into a tree trunk where it fell to pieces.

"Tsunami strike, water!" Omi called. A wave of water washed over one of the two remaining Jackbots.

"Seismic kick, earth!" Clay roared. He stamped his right foot on the ground and a chunk of earth rose from the ground, moulded together into a hard ball and threw itself into a Jackbot. The pieces of the Jackbot were thrown backwards into Omi's wave and smashed into the remains of the other Jackbot.

"Get the Wu!" Kimiko cried as she spotted it tangled in the branches of a wild, overgrown tree. Raimundo sprang forward, just as Jack spotted it as well. He dived into the web of branches and wrestled his way through them, climbing the tree to reach the crown. Branches scratched his arm and legs but he ignored them. His hand closed over the Shen Gong Wu and the same time as Jack's and it began to glow.

"Spicer, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," Raimundo said. "My Silk Spinner against your Monkey Staff. The game is tree hopping; first to reach the Wu wins."

The field began to tremble. The trees grew even taller and more trees appeared, making the small field look more like a forest. Raimundo and Jack were placed on separate tree branches next to each other.

"Gong Yi Tempai!" the cried.

"Monkey staff!" Jack screeched. He began to swing off through the trees.

"Raimundo, how could be so foolish as to pick a Showdown where Jack Spicer has the advantage! Have I not taught you anything?" Omi yelled from the side.

"Shut up Omi, I know what I'm doing," Raimundo replied. "Silk Spinner!" he shot a web at the branch a few feet above him and swung from it onto another branch.

"He is like man of the spiders!" Omi said excitedly.

"Spiderman," Clay corrected politely.

"That too!" Omi said.

Raimundo could see Jack ahead, perched on a branch, scratching his back with the Monkey Staff. He swung past him.

"Hey!" Jack said. He began to swing from the branches again but Raimundo was already ahead of him.

"What did you stop for?" Wuya scolded.

"Shut up, I'll get it!" Jack replied, but even as he said it, the surroundings were returning to normal; Raimundo had won.

"No fair!" Jack whined.

"That's what you get for underestimating your opponents!" Wuya said.

"See you later murderers," Jack huffed. He flew off on his helibot, Wuya right behind him.

"Alright Rai!" Kimiko said, hugging Raimundo.

"Come on kids, let's get back to the temple so you can finish feeding your faces," Dojo said, supersizing.

"Sounds like a plan to me, partner," Clay said. They climbed onto Dojo but before he could take off there was an ear splitting scream.

"What the fuck was that?" Raimundo asked nervously. Omi jumped off Dojo's back and walked cautiously in the direction of the scream.

"Careful little partner," Clay said, following at Omi's heels. Dojo shrank back to his lizard sized form and wrapped himself around Clay's hat. The four warriors stepped onto the pavement next to the road and immediately saw the source of the scream. A young woman was lying on her side, drenched in blood. They ran over. She had long blonde hair, and dazed, brown eyes. Blood was pouring from a deep stab wound in her chest. She was still alive but her eyelids looked heavy and there was a nauseating whistling sound whenever she hitched in breath.

"Kimiko, call an ambulance," Omi ordered. "Excuse me miss, what is your name?" he asked, kneeling beside the injured woman.

"You...you're...the Xiaolin...monks?" the girl choked.

"Correct!" Omi's face brightened.

"It's...your fault," the woman said. Omi's face immediately fell.

"Look, we don't know what's going on. Could you tell us who's hurt you?" Raimundo asked, kneeling down beside Omi.

"Your...fault," she said again.

"The ambulance is on its way," Kimiko announced.

"He...said...he said...to give you...this...and then I won't have died...for nothing," the woman said. Her voice was getting weaker and blood beginning to trickle from the corner of her mouth. Her hand twitched slightly and they saw a piece of paper scrunched up inside of it. Clay gently took it from her hand but didn't smooth it out.

"Please tell us who it was. We can stop this happening to anyone else if you do," Clay begged.

"He'll get you," the woman said. The corner of her mouth twitched into a chilling smile. "He...promised." Her eyes closed. She took in one last breath, let it out in a long sigh and then she was still.

"Oh my god," Kimiko said, her hand to her mouth.

"What's that piece of paper, Clay?" Raimundo asked. Clay smoothed it out and they gathered around to look at it. It was a note.

_Dear brilliant Xiaolin Monks,_

_As you may have noticed, you've started to annoy people, what with you walking around like you own the world and that. Now you're going to pay for what you've done. This woman is dead because of you. And there'll be more. And then I'm coming for you._

_Until then, brilliant Xiaolin Warriors,_

_R.L._

"Who's R.L.?" Clay asked.

"Doesn't ring a bell to me," Raimundo said.

"What have we done?" Kimiko asked. Her voice was shaking and tears were welling up in her blue eyes. They could now hear the sounds of a siren getting closer.

"Come on, the ambulance will be here soon," Raimundo said.

"We can't just leave her!" Kimiko argued.

"We've got to," Raimundo replied calmly. Dojo supersized and they clambered onto his back clutching their Shen gong Wu and the note and Dojo soared off into the sky.

"This is most worrying," Master Fung said as he read the note they had found.

"Do you happen to know anyone whose initials are R.L.?" Kimiko asked. Master Fung simply shook his head. Kimiko sighed.

"This can't go on," Kimiko said. "We've got to find out who it is and what we've done."

"Before someone else gets hurt," Clay said.

"Or before _we_ get hurt," Raimundo added.

"At least we know it's a he," Dojo said.

"Great, that really narrows it down," Raimundo spat.

"It does?" Omi asked hopefully.

"Sarcasm."

"Oh."

"Well, we've got to do _something_," Kimiko said sadly.

**I hope you enjoyed it. Please review, I'd really appreciate your feedback.**


	3. Chores, Chores and Even More Chores

**Really short chapter, sorry. I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

**Chapter 3**

**Chores, Chores and Even More Chores**

"I wonder what they've done," Jack thought aloud. "I thought they were supposed to be all good and that."

"Apparently not," Wuya said rolling her eyes.

"But seriously, what do you think they could have done?"

"Maybe they hurt someone on one of the many occasions they were trying to save the world. Or maybe because they had to save the world so many times due to mistakes they'd made themselves, people have realised that they're useless," Wuya suggested. Jack nodded thoughtfully.

"Maybe it's Chase," Jack said, a grin spreading across his pale face.

"Not his style," Wuya commented. Jack's face fell.

"Hannibal Bean?"

"Not his style either," Wuya replied.

"...Is it you?" Jack asked excitedly.

"Of course Jack, I murder people with my ghostly hands," Wuya snapped.

"Oh yeah," Jack replied shamefully.

"We'll find out though, eventually."

"Orb of Tornami!" Omi called. Water spilled from the blue orb and splashed to the floor. He placed the Shen Gong Wu aside and dropped to his knees where he began to scrub the floor clean.

"Third Arm Sash!" Clay said. The sash came to life and seized a scrubbing brush of its own and helped the cleaning.

"My arms are beginning to ache," Omi said sadly.

"We've been cleaning this floor for hours!" Raimundo whined.

"Maybe it's a punishment," Kimiko said.

"You don't think Master Fung thinks we really have anything to do with those murders do you?" Raimundo asked nervously.

"I doubt it, but talking like that it's no wonder anyone else believe it. You sound guilty as hell," Kimiko replied.

"R.L!" Omi suddenly cried, his finger pointed in Raimundo's direction. "Your name begins with an R Raimundo."

"Yes, but Pedrosa doesn't begin with an L," Raimundo replied angrily. "Trust you to immediately blame me!"

"Well you are most untrustworthy and you have gotten us into trouble before!" Omi argued.

"I'm not a murderer Omi!" Raimundo spat.

"Shut up the pair of you," Kimiko demanded. "We can't start arguing with each other now."

"Maybe that's what this R.L. wants," Clay said slowly. "For us to argue and then he can pick us off one by one." There was silence.

"...Nah! You're over thinking things dude," Raimundo said eventually.

"You seem very certain," Omi said suspiciously.

"For the last time, I'm not a murderer!" Raimundo cried.

"Omi, you must learn to have more faith in your fellow monks," Master Fung said from the doorway.

"You don't think we did it do you?" Kimiko asked shyly.

"I do not," Master Fung simply. "Now hurry young monks, the floor will not clean itself." He left. The sighed then got back to work.

When the floor was finally clean, Master Fung set the four of them to work on the dishes.

"I can hardly raise my arms, surely we're allowed a break," Raimundo moaned.

"Evil does not rest," Omi said.

"This isn't evil!" Raimundo replied. "This is this morning's breakfast!"

"I think the little fella was using a metaphor," Clay said to Raimundo.

"Ugh, I'm sick of everyone speaking in riddles," Raimundo complained.

The monks retired to their small rooms, aching, after the dishes had been washed by hand and put away, Dojo's litter box had been cleaned out, the Temple had been thoroughly dusted and the entire lawn had been mowed. Raimundo lay on his mattress, the curtain pulled shut over the entrance to his sorry excuse for a bedroom, gazing out of the tiny window that let in a sliver of light from the fading evening sun. He thought of that woman, dying before them on the pavement. They may not have personally ended her life, but they had done _something_ and therefore he was willing to admit that her death was their fault, although he would not admit it aloud to anyone else. But he knew the others thought the same. He ticked off a list of their rivals in his head; Wuya, Jack Spicer, Chase Young, Hannibal Roy Bean, Katnappe, Tubbymora. None of them seemed likely and none of their initials were R.L. So it was someone else, obviously. But who? Raimundo couldn't remember anyone else they might have annoyed over the years. He sighed heavily and turned over in his side, his arms wrapped around his teddy bear, Ninja Fred. He was tired from all the chores but he knew sleep was a long way off.

_With the monks now on their guard, I know I have to be more careful. They may mess up a lot, but that doesn't make them stupid. They'll find me eventually, of that I'm certain, I just have to make sure my plan had been carried out before then. I need to break them down somehow. Get inside their heads. Make them paranoid. Then maybe they'll do some of the work for me. That would be nice. They could fight each other and I'll just stand and watch. But still, maybe my plan is still better and maybe more fun too. I'll find their weaknesses and then they'll fall._

_**Please**_** review**


	4. The Writing on the Wall

**Slightly longer, but not by much. I'm quite proud of this chapter though. Enjoy and please review.**

**Chapter 4**

**The Writing on the Wall**

"Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

The world filled itself with trees and high walls. The Sleeping Star flew out of Omi and Jacks' hands and vanished. Omi and Jack started into each other's eyes.

"Gong Yi Tempai!"

"Serpent's Tail!" Jack cried. He sped off into the distance, flying straight through all his obstacles.

"Falcon's Eye!" Omi said, putting the Shen Gong Wu up to his eye. He looked around frantically, searching for the Sleeping Star. Whoever used it could make their enemies fall into a deep sleep and could only be woken by that same Shen Gong Wu. He saw nothing yet. He jumped up, grabbed onto a tree branch and pulled himself up. He jumped off the branch onto the top of a wall and looked around for Jack. He spotted him ahead, flying around aimlessly and scratching his head in confusion. At least Jack was having trouble as well Omi thought. He climbed onto another tree and made his way up it as high as he could then looked around using the Falcon's Eye again. He saw it. It was tangled in a web of bendy tree branches and leaves. Jack had seen it too. Omi sprung from the tree and caught hold of a branch on another tree and swung himself from it onto another wall, but Jack was getting there faster. Omi already knew he couldn't win now, not with Jack having the Serpent's Tail. Jack's fingers closed over the Shen Gong Wu and everything returned to normal.

"What happened to no Showdown's where the enemy has the advantage?" Raimundo asked sarcastically. Omi hung his head.

"Leave him alone," Kimiko said to Raimundo. "That Shen Gong Wu's not that important is it?"

"Not unless he uses it on us, no," Raimundo replied.

"Then we'd just have to steal it off him," Clay said.

"That's be a great idea, can you sleepwalk Clay? Because I'm sure even Spicer isn't stupid enough to just get one of us," Raimundo said.

"Rai, what's wrong?" Kimiko asked.

"Nothing. Let's get out of here," Raimundo replied simply.

_I watched the dragon fly off in the distance, heading for China. The Dragon of Wind was very clever. I could see he might be a treat to me. But Spicer won't use the Sleeping Star on any of them, I know that. The warriors have proven themselves to be very strong and very initiative. I wonder if I may have misunderstood them. I'll just have to find out how good they are myself; I think I know one of their weaknesses._

Omi balanced on the thin wooden pole on one foot with his eyes closed. His arms were held out on either side of him. He flipped into the air and landed on the pole on one hand instead, his legs held up perfectly straight, never opening his eyes. It was all about concentration and maybe little instinct. The air was still and silent and the Sun shone lazily down on the training grounds.

Kimiko hopped from pole to pole, occasionally nearly overbalancing, but never falling. She jumped for another pole at the same time Clay did and they crashed into each other, falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. The sudden noise distracted Omi and he tumbled to the ground beside his friends. Raimundo was the only one left standing. Master Fung approached them.

"Young Monks, I have grave news," he said quietly.

"It's always grave news. You never give us good news," Raimundo said. Master Fung threw Raimundo and warning look. Raimundo looked down. He jumped to the ground and landed on his feet. Omi, Clay and Kimiko were just getting to their feet.

"What it is, Master?" Omi asked seriously.

"There have been two more murders," Master Fung said. "Both in Tokyo. I am afraid one of the victims was Toshiro Tohomiko."

"...What?" Kimiko asked as her fellow monk's sympathetic eyes turned to her. "No...Daddy's not..." she brought her mobile phone out of her pocket and dialled a number and held it to her ear. There was no answer. Instead of tears, like Raimundo, Clay and Omi had expected, Kimiko got angry.

"We have to get there now. Dojo!" she demanded. No one wanted to argue. Dojo supersized and they climbed on his back. He took off and headed for Japan.

Kimiko gave Dojo directions to her dad's house and he landed in front of it. Kimiko had jumped from his back before he even touched the ground and ran to the front door. It was hanging off the hinges and bordered off with police tape. There was a policeman at the door.

"You can't go in there miss," he said.

"I have to, that's my daddy!" Kimiko argued.

"You're Kimiko Tohomiko?" he asked. Kimiko nodded. "Alright then, your friends have to stay here though." He led Kimiko into the destroyed house. The windows had been smashed and there was glass everywhere. Shelves had been knocked over, their contents scattered all over the floor and there was a layer of blood over almost everything. Kimiko stared around in disbelief. She was sure she was going to wake up from a bad dream at any moment, but deep down she knew it wouldn't happen. She was led over to where her father's body had been found. He was sprawled on his back, his body mutilated. Kimiko stared at him.

"No one could mistake Mr Tohomiko for anyone else but you've got to identify him. It's the rules. Is that your dad?" the policeman asked. Kimiko couldn't speak, so she simply nodded, never taking her eyes off her dad's body. His glasses lay beside his body, one of the lens' shattered and smeared with blood. She bent down and picked them up.

"You're not allowed to touch anything," the policeman said. He reached out to take the glasses of Kimiko and she punched him hard in the face. He reeled backwards and tripped over the overturned table, falling on his back and cutting his hands on the glass.

"Don't you tell me what I can and can't do!" Kimiko spat angrily. "This was my fucking house and that's my fucking dad and he's dead so I'll do what I like!" She looked down at the glasses in her hand. She wiped off the blood with her sleeve and kneeled down on the broken glass, ignoring the sharp pain as her knee was cut open. She gently placed the glasses back onto her father's nose and kissed his forehead. She felt numb with shock.

"Miss...I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the policeman said nervously, getting to his feet. "You've already ruined the crime scene." Kimiko ignored him. She just looked at her father's dead face and thought back to the last time she'd spoken to him. It was a couple of weeks ago, on the phone. If someone had told her then that it would be the last time she ever spoke to her dad she would laugh. The idea was ridiculous. It was like saying _it'll never happen to me_. Whatever _it_ was, it had to happen to someone. Life was cruel; it didn't care who got hurt.

"I love you daddy," Kimiko whispered. She kissed his head again and got slowly to her feet. Her knee was aching and there was a thin trickle of blood running down her leg but she didn't care. It was real pain, physical pain and it didn't compete with the pain she felt at losing her father. She knew it was going to get worse as well. She was still in shock at the moment. It hadn't sunk in yet. Her dad was dead. She was never going to speak to him again. Or see him again. She kept saying that over and over again in her head, trying to make sense of it, but she couldn't. It seemed impossible. And yet it wasn't. Once she'd left this house, she'd never see him again. He was gone.

Kimiko looked at her dad for a few more minutes and then she turned to leave and screamed. On the wall right behind her, written in blood, were two simple yet heart stopping words that made her blood run cold and the hairs stand up straight on the back of her neck. Two simple words; _you're next._

"They weren't there when we came in," Kimiko said shakily. She tore her eyes away from the writing and looked at the policeman. He was gazing at the words in comic disbelief.

"No...no they weren't," he said, not looking at Kimiko. "You...you should probably go."

"Where the fuck did they come from!" Kimiko demanded of him.

"I...I don't know!" the policeman replied, his voice shaking. He finally looked at Kimiko and the horror and confusion in his eyes was far too convincing for her to believe he had written the warning while her back was turned. Besides, he had been lying on the floor in shock with a bloody nose most of the time she had been facing away from that wall. Something else had put those words there.

She fought the urge to look back at her father's corpse as she left the house. She stepped out into the sun and realised it had only been about fifteen minutes since she went in. It felt like hours.

"Kimiko...are you okay?" Raimundo asked nervously. Her pale was pale.

"...He's dead," Kimiko said dumbly. The tears still didn't come. She just felt numb. Numb, angry and scared. She told them about the writing on the wall. They all stared at her in horror when she finished.

"So...if they weren't there when you went in, they must have been put there while you were already there," Omi said.

"Well, duh!" Raimundo said.

"Did you hear anyone behind you?" Omi asked, ignoring Raimundo. Kimiko shook her head.

"This is most disturbing," Omi said sadly.

"Let's just get back to the temple," Kimiko sighed. She couldn't stand to be there anymore. She wanted to get as far away from Japan as possible. Dojo supersized and flew them back to China.

**I hope you liked it. Please review.**


	5. Possession Necklace

**I tried my best to make this chapter a bit longer so I hope you like it.**

**Chapter 5**

**Possession Necklace**

It had been two weeks since the death of Toshiro Tohomiko. It had been a slow two weeks. No Shen Gong Wu activated and there were no unexpected visitors or Wu thefts and most of all, there were no more murders. Kimiko had not left her room for anything except to use the bathroom and to get a drink or a bite to eat, but even then, she wasn't eating much. She hadn't left the Temple at all except to go to her father's funeral a few days ago. And still she hadn't mourned his passing. She hadn't spoken a word to anyone. Master Fung had kindly let her off doing the chores and training. He knew she would come round eventually.

Kimiko lay on her side on her mattress, facing the wall. She didn't know how long it had been since her father died. She had lost all track of time as she lay in this tiny room, listening to the sounds of her friends doing their chores or training outside. Once or twice she had heard them talking about her, worrying about her, but she didn't care. She didn't want her friends, she wanted her dad. Keiko had tried phoning her several times but she seemed to have taken then lack of a reply as a sign that Kimiko didn't want to talk yet and she had given up a couple of days ago.

She was thinking about before she had left Japan for the Xiaolin Temple, when she had been younger, how her father had spoiled her. He had given her everything she wanted. What had she done for him? She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to him. Her father had died alone. At last the tears came. They welled up in her blue eyes and then spilled over onto her pink cheeks in a steady flow. She put her face into her pillow to muffle her sobs but someone had already heard.

Raimundo had just been leaving his own room when he heard Kimiko begin to cry. He paused and cocked his head to one side. Very quietly, he approached her curtained off bedroom and listened. Her was about to go in when he stopped. If he went in, Kimiko might stop crying again. She never was one for showing weakness like this in front of others, maybe because she was the only girl and she didn't want them to think she actually _was_ weak. It wouldn't be healthy if she never mourned her father's death, so Raimundo backed away from the room a little. When Kimiko wanted to talk, she would, he thought. It didn't stop him worrying about her but it helped him take her feelings into consideration. Forcing himself on her to stop his own worrying was selfish. He headed back to the meditation hall where Omi and Clay were. He didn't tell them he had heard Kimiko crying, that was her business.

"Hey kids, Shen Gong Wu alert!" Dojo said slithering into the room with the Ancient Scroll. "It's a good one. It's called the Possession Necklace. Whoever uses it has the power to possess whoever they want."

"Do we tell Kimiko?" Clay asked.

"I'll ask her if she wants to come, but no one get annoyed if she doesn't, right?" Raimundo said, his eyes on Omi.

"No, she does not need that," Omi agreed.

Kimiko agreed to come, surprising all three of the other monks. She washed her face and they all climbed onto Dojo and he soared into the darkening sky.

The Possession Necklace wasn't too far away from the Temple, and Jack was already seconds away from it. Kimiko leaped from Dojo's back before he'd landed and caught hold of the Shen Gong Wu at the same time as Jack.

"I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," Kimiko said.

"Where did you come from?" Jack asked, looking around. Dojo landed behind Kimiko.

"The game is tag, first to get tagged loses. My Star Hinarbi against your Shroud of Shadows."

"Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!" the surroundings changed to suit the Showdown.

"Gong Yi Tempai!"

"Shroud of Shadows!" Jack cried immediately. He vanished from sight.

"Star Hinarbi!" Kimiko called. She threw the star in the right of the direction Jack had disappeared and heard him scream as the fire raced past him. Kimiko flipped into the air and tugged the Shroud off Jack before he could get away. He ran as fast as he could.

"Shroud of Shadows!" Kimiko said, and she vanished into the Shroud. Jack looked around nervously.

"Jack you idiot, you may as well give up now!" Wuya said angrily.

"Tag," Kimiko appeared in front of Jack, her hand on his shoulder. The Showdown ended and Kimiko returned to her friends carrying the Possession Necklace, The Shroud of Shadows and Star Hinarbi.

"That was quick," Dojo commented.

"The tag ones always are," Raimundo replied. "Remember that one with Katnappe for the Changing Chopsticks?"

"Do not remind me," Omi replied. Jack and Wuya were already specks in the distance. Then there was a scream.

"Not again!" Clay said exasperatedly. They ran in the direction of the scream and this time found a man. He had dark red hair and pale skin. His face was twisted in pain. There was an old scar above his right eye, a fresh cut on his left cheek and several more cuts on his arms and legs, some of them deep, all of them bleeding, but he wasn't dying.

"Help me!" he gasped. He eyes were watering with pain. "Please!"

"Who was it?" Omi asked immediately.

"I don't know...he came up behind me. Please, help me!" the man croaked.

"What is your name?" Omi asked.

"Omi, let's just get him some help then we can ask questions later," Raimundo said. He and Clay gently picked up the man and carried him onto Dojo's back. Omi and Kimiko climbed up and Dojo took off.

Once the Wu was safely in the vault, Kimiko went back to her room. The man was laid in a bed in the Temple's hospital room and Master Fung had ordered that he was left alone for a while. Kimiko gazed out of her bedroom window and her thoughts returned to her father. Collecting the Shen Gong Wu had been a good distraction but she couldn't run from her grief, she knew that. She heard footsteps enter the room next door.

"Raimundo?" she asked. The footsteps stopped, then returned, heading towards her room, then the curtain was tugged aside.

"Yeah?" Raimundo asked.

"...Can we talk?" Kimiko said shyly. Raimundo smiled and stepped into Kimiko's room, pulling the curtain shut behind him. He sat down on the end of the mattress.

"I know this is a bit of a personal question but...has anyone in your family ever died?" Kimiko asked.

"My oldest brother got hit by a car when I was six," Raimundo replied.

"Were you close?" Kimiko said.

"Well, I've got a really big family but I suppose we were yeah, we all are," Raimundo said.

"What did you do?"

"Kimiko...there's nothing you can do. You just have to wait. You're dad's never coming back but you'll start feeling better eventually. I promise," Raimundo said. Kimiko's eyes welled up with tears and Raimundo put his arm around her. She leaned on his shoulder and began to cry. Raimundo stroked her soft, black hair and waited for her sobs to subside.

The next day the monks went into the hospital room to greet their guest properly. He introduced himself as Rouge Riddell. He didn't seem in too much pain no; his injuries weren't too serious.

"It's a shame you didn't see who did it," Kimiko sighed. She seemed much happier today now she'd finally talked to someone but no one dared mention it.

"I know. Lucky for me he scarpered before he had a chance to really hurt me though," Rouge said.

"Yeah," Clay agreed. "But why _did_ he run?"

"He probably heard you lot coming and didn't want to get caught," Rouge suggested. It seemed like a fair enough explanation.

"So, where are you from?" Kimiko inquired.

"New York," Rouge replied. "I'm only here on holiday."

"Were you with anyone?" Raimundo asked.

"Nope, just me. I don't really get on too well with my parents so I decided to come on holiday to get away from them. A change of scenery, you know? I wish I'd stayed at home now though," Rouge sighed.

"Yeah, getting attacked on holiday must suck more than getting attacked on a normal day," Raimundo said and no one was quite sure whether he was being sarcastic or not.

"I'm really grateful for you guys helping me," Rouge said, smiling.

"It is our pleasure," Omi said proudly. "You may stay as long on you like."

"That's really kind of you," Rouge said. Omi smiled.

**I hope you enjoyed it, remember to review. Your feedback is really appreciated.**


	6. Theft and the Second Note

**I know it's short but I didn't have much time, do for that I apologise. I hope you enjoy it anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible and I'll try and make it longer to make up for so many short chapters.**

**Chapter 6**

**Theft and the Second Note**

Kimiko's mood improved slightly over the next couple of days although her temper was worse than ever and she had ended up screaming at Clay for being in the shower longer than five minutes. The other monks were cautious around her, never daring to say a single thing that had even the slightest chance of causing an outburst. It was annoying but it wasn't her fault; she had just lost her father. Even Omi had held back from saying that he had no parents either after Clay had explained that it was different for Kimiko because Omi had never known his parents in the first place. They had heard her crying at night once or twice but they thought she wanted to be left alone so no one disturbed her. She had started training again and that provided a good distraction for her.

Rouge Riddell was recovering rapidly. Sometimes he came out into the Temple grounds to watch the monks training. He got on well with all of them, even Dojo and they didn't have a single thing to complain about. He was friendly and happy to help them with anything, he had even risked telling Kimiko that if she wanted to talk to him about her dad she could, but he left it at that. She had smiled gratefully but had not taken him up on his offer.

The Sun was just setting, casting a pink glow across the sky, dying the fluffy clouds. The air was peaceful, quiet. Suddenly, it was broken by an alarm bell. It echoed through the Temple, making everyone cry out with fright.

"It's the Temple vault!" Dojo screamed. "It's been broken into!" The four monks, Dojo and Master Fung raced to the vault. The door was hanging off its hinges and the vault was open. The monks ran inside and pulled open the drawers. Some Shen Gong Wu remained, but some were gone.

"We've been robbed!" Dojo said dramatically.

"Yes Dojo, we can see that!" Kimiko snapped. Rouge appeared at the vault entrance.

"What's going on guys?" he asked.

"We've been robbed!" Dojo repeated for Rouge's benefit.

"Bummer, anything important?" Rouge replied.

"The Possession Necklace, The Crown of Darkness, the Shadow of Fear and the Sapphire Dragon," Clay answered. "Yeah, they're all pretty important partner."

"Who would want them?" Omi asked.

"Spicer, it's always Spicer," Kimiko replied.

"Wrong," Raimundo said. He was standing further down the steps. A draw was open in front of him. "The Reversing Mirror and the Serpent's Tail are gone too, but it's not Spicer or anyone for Wuya," he held up a note.

"Oh god," Kimiko moaned. Raimundo began to read the note aloud.

_Dear Xiaolin Monks, my heroes_

_I'm sure I'll enjoy these Shen Gong Wu. You won't miss them, you'll see them again soon enough. _

_Did Kimiko like my present for her? I'm coming for her and then I'm coming for you all. Give up now Xiaolin Monks, you can't win. I've never lost before, I don't plan to now. I'll see you very soon._

_R.L._

_Xxx_

"Why are there kisses?" Omi asked. "Did he see the error of his ways and wants our forgiveness?"

"I think he's being sarcastic, little partner," Clay said.

"Oh," Omi replied, his face fell.

"He's coming for Kimiko?" Rouge asked, concerned. "What's he going to do to her?"

"I don't know but let him come. I'll fucking kill him!" Kimiko growled angrily. "He killed my dad, I'll fucking kill him!"

"Kimiko, calm down," Omi said calmly. "Getting angry will get us nowhere." Kimiko glared at Omi but said nothing, she knew he was right.

"We should protect her," Rouge said.

"I don't need protecting!" Kimiko spat.

"I know Kimiko, I _know_ you're tough and you can stand up for yourself, but this man sounds like a fucking monster! Think of everything he's done. Do you want to risk that?" Rouge said softly. Kimiko looked down.

"I want him dead," Kimiko whispered.

"I know," Rouge said. "But we can't risk losing you. The boys need you, they're fucking useless."

"Hey!" Raimundo argued.

"Oh, face it, you are," Rouge said playfully. Raimundo said nothing.

"Well I think the first thing we should do is ask Spicer about this. Just in case. You never know," Clay said.

"An excellent idea, Clay," Master Fung said.

So just fifteen minutes later the monks were climbing down from Dojo's back outside of Jack's house. Rouge stayed at the Temple. They went around to the side where the entrance to his basement was and Omi knocked politely.

"I don't have any more Wu!" Jack's terrified voice called from below. The monks exchanged puzzled glances. Omi pulled the door open and they climbed down into the gloomy lair.

"We don't want _your_ Wu," Kimiko said. "We want _our _Wu _back_."

"I don't have it! Did you get robbed too?" Jack asked.

"Yes, you mean you did too?" Omi said, looking confused.

"Yeah, but I didn't even hear anything. My Sleeping Star's just gone and this was in its place," Jack help up a small scrap of paper with the letters _R.L._ scribbled onto it.

"You didn't hear anything?" Raimundo asked. Jack shook his head. "Were there any sighs of anyone being in here?"

"Apart from the Wu being replaced with this, no," Jack said.

"So why did this R.L. break out door down, when there's not a single sign of anyone breaking into Jack's lair?" Raimundo asked his friends. Kimiko, Omi and Clay looked at him, clueless.

"Maybe he _wanted_ you to know he'd been there," Dojo suggested.

"But why?" Omi asked.

"Well it's not like he hasn't been desperate to get your attention before now, what with writing threatening messages on walls and leaving notes and all that," Dojo said sarcastically.

"Makes sense to me," Kimiko agreed.

"So...do you know who it is?" Jack asked hopefully. "Because I'd really like that Sleeping Star back."

"Haven't a clue," Clay said. "Do you? Or Wuya?" Jack shook his head sadly.

"So, what are we going to do?" Raimundo asked, perplexed.

"Well first, I'd like to leave. This place smells like B.O." Kimiko said.

"Hey!" Jack whined. The monks left without another word.

Rouge was waiting for them outside the temple. He watched them land, his dark red hair blowing about his face in the soft breeze.

"Find anything?" he asked.

"Not a thing," Clay sighed.

"Well, we found out he's robbed Jack as well and he's not too fussed about getting Jack's attention," Raimundo said.

"So now he's got the Serpent's Tail, the Reversing Mirror, The Crown of Darkness, the Shadow of Fear, the Sapphire Dragon, the Possession Necklace and the Sleeping Star and everyone of those Shen Gong Wu spell trouble," Dojo said.

"You'll find him," Rouge said encouragingly. The monks smiled at him weakly, already starting to feel defeated.

**I hope you liked it, please remember to review. Constructive criticism is more than welcome, but saying that, keep it friendly, flaming is just a waste of your time as well as mine. Anything you think will help improve this story and my own writing in general, I'd be grateful if you'd tell me!**


	7. Fire Gone Bad

**This chapter's loads longer! I tried my very best on it and to you'd better appreciate it, since it's now twenty past one in the morning and I stayed up writing this for you. I'm just kidding, I'm just not tired and I love writing! I really hope you enjoy it though, I'm really proud of this chapter. Also, I'm really sorry about the clumping together of it all. If someone could tell me how to separate paragraphs and that for fanfiction I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

**Fire Gone Bad**

"Come on Kimiko, Rouge is right; this guy could _really_ hurt you. We don't know what he's capable of," Raimundo pleaded.

"What, you think I need protecting?" Kimiko asked, her eyes glinting fiercely.

"Yes, I do," Raimundo said. He looked Kimiko in the eyes, daring her to argue back.

"I can look after myself," Kimiko said, glaring right back at Raimundo. And with that, she turned on her heel and left the Temple.

"Where's she going?" Clay asked.

"I don't know," Raimundo replied. "Probably for a walk. That always cools me off."

"It could be dangerous," Clay said.

"She'll be alright for now, I think," Raimundo said.

"I have it!" Omi suddenly exclaimed, making Raimundo and Clay jump. "The Shard of Lightening! That is how our enemy wrote that message on the wall without Kimiko knowing and how he got into Jack's lair!"

"Doesn't explain how he did both of those things without opening a door," Raimundo said. "Yeah, he'd move at the speed of light, but you'd still at least hear the door wouldn't you?" Omi sighed.

"How did he even get from China to Japan so fast?" Clay asked.

"We're just getting more problems and not enough solutions. This is stupid!" Raimundo exclaimed. The three warriors were sat around the kitchen table. They had just finished their breakfast and the Sun was only just beginning to rise on the Temple, its warmth only just beginning to banish the night's chill.

"We cannot just sit here!" Omi said in annoyance. He stood up and left, following Kimiko from the Temple. Raimundo and Clay exchanged puzzled, nervous glances.

Omi landed outside of Chase's palace, the Golden Tiger Claws clutched firmly in his hand. He entered the rock door and it opened before him, almost as though he had been expected. Omi entered, glancing around nervously. The big cats watched him, growling quietly.

"Omi, I thought I might be getting a visit from you sometime soon," Chase's cool voice drifted down the shadows. Omi peered into the gloom in the direction of the voice and Chase stepped into the light.

"Isn't it funny how it is always me you come to for help?" Chase said.

"I come to you because you are an expert on evil doings, not because I want to join you," Omi said calmly, not taking his eyes off Chase.

"I'm sure you'll change your mind one day," Chase said. "But I'm afraid you've wasted a journey today. I cannot help you with this murder business for I myself do not know who is behind them."

"You don't have any idea at all?" Omi said, a note of desperation in his voice. "Because it would be really appreciated of you'd tell me, I believe Kimiko's life may be in danger."

"I'm afraid not, Omi," Chase replied.

"Do you know anyone who might be able to help?" Omi asked. Chase simply shook his head. Omi sighed. His one hope had failed. He left without another word and returned to the Temple using the Tiger Claws.

The sight that greeted Omi was not a good one. Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay were battling each other. Not training, they were fighting. Actually _fighting_. Kimiko caught one of Raimundo's fists as he went to punch her and pushed it back. She kicked Raimundo in the stomach and he fell backwards, winded. Clay charged towards her, leading up to what looked like a good head butt and making Clay look more like a charging bull than a human being, but Kimiko simply stepped out of the way and stood out her leg. Clay tripped over and fell flat on his face in the dirt.

"What is going on?" Omi demanded, terrified.

"Typhoon Boom, wind!" Raimundo said. A hurricane materialised and began circling Kimiko. She tried to back away from the tugging wind but it was too strong for her and she was slowly dragged towards it.

"She's trying to steal our Wu!" Clay said, getting to his feet and wiping dirt off his face.

"Judallet Flip, fire!" Kimiko began to spin on the spot at a speed that rivalled the hurricanes and fire shot off in all directions. The trees around them caught fire. The hurricane was pushed away and instead it moved towards Clay. Raimundo dived out of the way of a jet of fire that came so close to him he felt the heat radiating off it. He landed on his stomach and was winded for the second time.

"Raimundo! Little help here partner!" Clay shouted as he was slowly pulled into the hurricane.

"Wind!" Raimundo called and the hurricane broke up. Clay's hat floated to the ground where it had been.

"Tsunami Strike, water!" Omi called. Water sprayed from his hands and doused the flaming trees and grass. "Kimiko, please tell me why you are doing this!"

"You all think I'm so useless and I'm weak because I'm a girl!" Kimiko said, her voice dripping with anger and loathing. "I'll fucking show you! I don't need you! I'm going to finds whoever killed my daddy and I'll kill them and I don't need any of you to tell me I need _protecting_!"

"Kimiko, you can't go evil just because of that," Raimundo said desperately.

"Well you would know wouldn't you Raimundo?" Kimiko said, a hideous grin spread across her lips and she laughed bitterly. Raimundo just looked at her, suddenly feeling empty.

"We know you're not weak, you've proven that loads of times!" Clay argued.

"Yet you continue to say it," Kimiko said in a cold voice. "Shroud of Shadows!" She disappeared. Omi, Clay and Raimundo looked around nervously, none of them daring to move in case she was close. Then the Golden Tiger Claws were yanked from Omi's hand and he cried out in surprise. Kimiko reappeared behind Omi, grinning victoriously.

"Goodbye, brilliant Xiaolin warriors. Let's see how you get on without me. Golden Tiger Claws!" She slashed a whole on the air. Omi made a desperate lunge for her ankles to try and pull her back but he was too late and she was gone. He lay on the ground, feeling hollow.

Kimiko slashed another whole and exited the vortex in Jack's lair. He screamed in shock at her appearance.

"I told you I don't have any more Wu!" he screamed, shielding his face and peering between his fingers. "Oh, it's you." His hands dropped back down by his sides. "What do you want? I told you, I don't know anything."

"You do have Wu," Kimiko said. "I want the Sun Chi Lantern. You stole that from us a while ago, didn't you? I want it back."

"You're just going to ask? No threats? And you think I'll just give you it? Fat chance," Jack sneered. "Hang on, why did you come on your own?"

"The others are useless. I'm bored of them," Kimiko said. Jack just looked at her.

"Does that mean you've turned to the dark side?" Wuya asked, making an appearance through the solid wall of Jack's basement.

"Yes, but I'm not joining you. Maybe another day. But not now," Kimiko replied. "Give me the Sun Chi Lantern." Wuya looked at Kimiko suspiciously.

"If we give you the Wu will you join us? We could use you on our side?" Jack said hopefully.

"No," Kimiko said shortly. "Give me it or I'll take it myself." Jack didn't move. Before he even knew what was happening, Kimiko ran at him and threw a powerful punch at his head, knocking him to the floor with the begins of a throbbing headache already appearing.

"I didn't know you were that strong!" Jack whined, sitting up and rubbing his aching head, feeling a lump. Kimiko kicked him in the same spot, sending him reeling and squealing in pain.

"I warned you," Kimiko growled.

"What's wrong with you?" Jack demanded. "You're not usually like this! This isn't usually how you steal Wu off me! I should know, it's happened a lot!" Kimiko ignored him. She kicked him in the chest and kept her foot there. Jack tried to scream but there was too much pressure on his diaphragm just below his ribs for him to get enough air into his lungs and he felt the horrible sensation of suffocation. He began to panic as unrealistic yet terrifying images of Kimiko's foot going right through his rib cage filled his mind.

"Please get off me!" he begged. "Wuya help me!"

"No hands," Wuya said, holding up her ghostly arms.

"Please get off me!" Jack cried again. "I'll give you anything! I promise!"

"If I let you get up and you've lied to me, I will kill you," Kimiko said in a horrific, believable, threatening voice. Jack stared at her in pure fear. Kimiko slowly removed her foot but never once took her cold, blue eyes off Jack. He gasped in air as relief swept over him. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and walked over to his desk, afraid to take his eyes off Kimiko in case she attacked again while his back was turned. He unlocked a drawer on his desk and brought out the Sun Chi Lantern.

"Jack, don't give her it!" Wuya screamed.

"Be quiet Wuya," Kimiko said without looking at her.

"No one's ever spoken to me like that before!" Wuya said, startled. "Not since..." she trailed off as the Sun Chi Lantern passed from Jack's hands to Kimiko's. "Jack, what are you doing?"

"She's scaring me!" Jack said. His eyes were glittering with tears of fear he was battling to keep back and his hands were shaking badly. Kimiko seized Jack's left hand before he had a chance to put them back at his sides after giving Kimiko what she wanted. He screamed with fright and the tears began to fall down his cheeks. Kimiko spun Jack around his arm so he was facing away from her and gave him a hard kick in the back knocking him on his face.

"Thank you Jack," she said sweetly, looking down at him and he bawled in terror on the floor. Then she looked at Wuya.

"You'll thank me for this, my dear," she said. She giggled softly. "Golden Tiger Claws!" she jumped into the vortex and it closed behind her. Wuya stared at the spot where Kimiko had left, a name emerging into her memory. A name she had not thought about for almost- unbelievably- 1,000 years. But now she remembered as though it had been yesterday.

"I think I know who's behind the murders," she said quietly and she grinned with pleasure. Jack, who was still crying on the floor with a mixture or panic and relief that Kimiko and left, did not hear her.

Raimundo sat on the scorched grass outside the Temple grounds, replaying the last time he had seen Kimiko over and over again in his mind. He knew she had turned for some reason, but something kept telling him that she hadn't. Intuition? Or was it just his own stupid mind telling him Kimiko wasn't that kind of person? She wasn't like him.

It was like when his brother had died. He knew he was gone forever, but it still felt like he was just going to walk through the door at any moment. It was hard to grasp the idea that he was never going to see his brother again and the thought of it was laughable. That must have been how Kimiko was feeling. Maybe she was just confused? She just wanted revenge and she was willing to do anything she could to get it. Of course she'd want her father's killer dead and no one at the Temple would allow her to do that. She knew they'd all try and talk her out of it. Tell her it was the wrong thing to do and it would probably end up in her own death. Maybe that's why she left.

The moon was shining down on the silent Temple and there was a faint breeze rustling the leaves in the trees that survived the fire attack. Apart from the sound of the leaves, the night was completely silent. Raimundo had been lying in bed for two hours before he finally decided sleep was not coming tonight. Not while he knew Kimiko was gone and that she might get hurt. If she really had left because she thought she wasn't appreciated enough then it meant it was their fault. If something happened to her, Raimundo, Clay and Omi would be responsible. And Rouge. Rouge had said that he knew she could stand up for herself but he still thought she needed to be looked after. If something happened to Kimiko, Rouge Riddell would feel guilty for the death of a girl he had only known for just over a week. The thought of that guilt was something Raimundo couldn't stand but the thought of Kimiko being forever was worse. She was right. They didn't appreciate her enough. She had saved them all on so many times, she was the main reason he himself had returned to the Xiaolin Temple after his taste of the Heylin lifestyle, so she had saved them all then as well. They could _all_ be dead if not for her. Even Raimundo. Thinking about it now, he was sure Wuya would have grown tired of him and decided just to dispose of him as well, since she'd already destroyed his friends there was no need to keep him around.

Raimundo suddenly snapped back to his senses at the sound of footsteps approaching the Temple grounds. His heart began to race. The Temple was out of the way of anywhere else so the likeliness of a simple passerby was slim. He thought briefly that maybe it was Kimiko coming back flashed across his mind but he told himself, the part of himself that knew she had really left, that that was almost as unlikely as an innocent pedestrian walking past. Even if she was going to decide she had been wrong to leave, she hadn't had enough time to think it over. Unless she was coming back for another fight.

A figure appeared at the entrance to the grounds but Raimundo couldn't make out who it was due to the cloudy night that blocked out most of the moon's light. All he knew was that it wasn't Kimiko.

"Are you Raimundo Pedrosa?" the figure asked. It was a male voice that Raimundo didn't recognise. He didn't say anything. The figure began to walk towards him but Raimundo stood his ground. Finally the figure was close enough for Raimundo to make out his features. He had short black hair and brown eyes. He wore baggy jeans that were torn in several places and a plain black T-shirt that showed off his tattooed arms.

"Who are you?" Raimundo asked.

"Rex LeBay," the man replied shortly. "Are you Raimundo replied?"

"Yes," Raimundo said.

"I need your help," Rex said. He stopped a few feet away from Raimundo. "I've heard you turned Heylin once and nearly brought about the end of the world." A small smile flitted across Rex's thin lips.

"If you want me to go Heylin again then you're wasting your time," Raimundo said coldly.

"No. Not Heylin," Rex said, unnerved by Raimundo's warning tone of voice. "I want to you help me defeat Wuya, Chase Young and Hannibal Roy Bean. And then you can have anything you want."

"I've heard that before. I've _had_ that before. I didn't make me as happy as I'd expected," Raimundo replied, his promise to himself that he'd never speak of greediness aloud to anyone again blaring angrily in his head as he broke it for a complete stranger.

"I don't mean those material things," Rex smirked. "You can have Kimiko. That's what you want isn't it?"

"Is she with you?" Raimundo asked, avoiding the question by asking his own.

"No. But she will be."

"You're lying," Raimundo spat.

"Can you prove that, Raimundo?" Rex asked, smiling.

"Kimiko didn't turn evil. She doesn't really want to hurt anyone except the man who killed her dad. She's just angry and confused but she'll come round eventually. I know her," Raimundo said. Rex's cocky grin faltered slightly at Raimundo's reply but only for a moment, then it was back in place.

"We'll see," he said.

"Get out of here," Raimundo said, struggling to keep his voice calm. Rex remained where he was as he watched Raimundo fight to keep his anger at bay. Rex knew that deep down, Raimundo didn't even believe himself.

"You might change your mind. You're just an unappreciated as Kimiko. They don't trust you. They never have and they never will and you know it. You'll change your mind and I'll know when you do. I'll find you again. Until then Raimundo Pedrosa," Rex turned and left the Temple grounds. Raimundo didn't move. He listened to the sound of Rex's fading footsteps, making sure he was really leaving and then he went back inside the Temple to have another go at sleeping.

**I hope you liked it! The next chapter should be up soon. Remember to review, all constructive criticism is welcome!**


	8. First Blood

**It's not as long as I'd hoped but enjoy it anyway!**

**Chapter 8**

**First Blood**

"So, what you are telling me is that a man just walked into the Temple grounds and _asked_ you to turn evil and help him defeat the Heylin side so that he could rule the world?" Omi asked. Raimundo nodded.

"Did he tell you his name?" Clay asked.

"Rex Le..." Raimundo trailed off and his heart sank. "He said his name was Rex LeBay...R.L." Omi and Clay just looked at him.

"He didn't say anything about the murders but he mentioned Kimiko," Raimundo said.

"What did he say about her?" Clay asked.

"Does it matter? The point is he mentioned her okay?" Raimundo snapped, a little angrier than he's intended. "Look, we've got to find him. He said she wasn't with him yet but she would be. What if he hurts her?" Rouge entered the kitchen at that point and dropped into the seat beside Clay.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked. Raimundo explained it all again.

"Rex LeBay?" Rouge said slowly.

"Do you know him?" Raimundo asked immediately.

"No, but I think I've heard the name before. Apparently he's almost as useless as that Spicer guy. If that's true, you've got nothing to worry about," Rouge said.

"Well forgive me Rouge but I'm not going to risk Kimiko's life on what you _think_ you've heard," Raimundo said. Rouge said nothing.

"Sorry to interrupt but a Shen Gong Wu just became active," Dojo said, climbing up onto the tabletop. "It's called the Chest of Dreams. It's the sister Wu to the Sleeping Star. After you've sent someone to sleep you use the Chest of Dreams and they dream about all their dreams coming true. Bit of a mouthful. But once they eventually wake up again they would rather be asleep again, where they were happy. It's only been used three times in recorded history. Two people committed suicide and the third went on a killing spree until they found the Sleeping Star again. I'm not sure what happened to them. I think they just died of old age in their sleep. Anyway, it's quite important, so we'd better hurry."

"You coming Rouge?" Raimundo asked.

"No, I'll probably just get in your way," Rouge said. So they left without him.

**.:.:.:.:.**

Kimiko was already there when they arrived and the sounds of Jack's helibot weren't far off.

"Kimiko has come to collect the Shen Gong Wu for us?" Omi said stupidly.

"I don't think she's getting it for us little partner," Clay said, noting the hatful glare Kimiko gave them as they approached. Her step quickened and looking in the direction she was heading, the monks saw the Shen Gong Wu. She was moments away from it. Clay- the only one was able to grasp the fact, however unwillingly, that Kimiko had turned evil- raced for it, and three hands grabbed the Shen Gong Wu at the same time.

"Jack, Clay, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," Kimiko said fiercely, a touch of annoyance in her voice. "My Golden Tiger Claws against Clay's Third Arm Sash and Jack's...what have you got?" Kimiko asked.

"The Jet Bootsu. It's all I've got left," Jack said.

"So you better not lose," Wuya warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack said, waving her away.

"The game is, last to fall wins," Kimiko said. "Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

The ground shook. Hundreds of wooden poles sprouted from the ground and grew taller than the trees around them. It was like a replica of the wooden poles in the Temple grounds they used for training, only much, much taller. Jack, Kimiko and Clay were placed on separate poles and equal distances away from each other.

"Gong Yi Tempai!"

"I've got the Jet Bootsu, I can't lose!" Jack said triumphantly.

"You've got to put them on first," Clay smirked as Jack balanced on one foot, trying to remove his shoes.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" Kimiko said. She slashed the air and was gone. Then she reappeared moments later on the pole directly in front of Jack, startling him so much that he almost lost his balance and dropped the Jet Bootsu to the ground where they were out of reach.

"Jack, you fool!" Wuya screeched.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" Kimiko said again and this time she emerged on the pole behind Jack. She gave him a good hard shove and he fell forward with a scream. Jack was out of the game. Kimiko glared at Clay and Clay glared back, never dropping his eyes from hers.

"Third Arm Sash!" Clay called. The sash came to life and streaked forward. It made a grab at the Golden Tiger Claws but Kimiko dodged it by jumping onto the next pole.

"Kimiko, you shouldn't be doing this," Clay said. Kimiko ignored him. She was aimlessly jumping for pole to pole, her balance too perfect to be true. Clay just watched her. Then the Sash reached out for the Claws again while Kimiko was distracted. Suddenly, she seized the end of the Third Arm Sash and pulled hard. It unravelled from Clay's waist, spinning him round as it did and he toppled over. He grabbed onto the pole and clung onto it with all his might. Kimiko laughed as she watched him struggle to prevent himself from falling.

"Third Arm Sash!" Kimiko said. Once again, the sash came to life and reached out to Clay. It began to slowly pull his fingers away from the wooden pole and Kimiko just stood watching, a grin of amusement on her face. Clay fell. There was a flash of bright light and the scene returned to normal. Clay got to his feet and rubbed his sore back.

"I'd love to stay and chat but...I just don't want to," Kimiko said, smiling pleasantly. She slashed another hole into the air and jumped through. The three warriors watched sadly as it closed up behind her.

**.:.:.:.**

Returning to the Temple held no hopes of improving their mood as they were greeted by a worried looking Rouge Riddell.

"What's up partner?" Clay asked looking concerned.

"I thought I'd just go out for a little walk while I waited for you guys to come back and...well..." Rouge trailed off. He led them to the entrance to the Temple grounds where the body of a young woman was lying, perfectly still.

"I didn't know what to do," Rouge said apologetically. "So I just left her there and waited for you guys."

"It's alright," Raimundo said comfortingly. Rouge smiled weakly.

"What's this?" Omi asked suddenly. He tugged a balled up piece of paper from the woman's hand.

"Another one?" Raimundo groaned. Clay looked at the note over Omi's shoulder and went pale.

"What is it?" Raimundo asked. He looked as well and fell his heart drop.

_My dear best friends,_

_Maybe this will show you that I can look after myself and that I'm not weak. Don't worry though; this woman didn't die for nothing. She died because my daddy did and she won't be the first. If you still doubt me, I'll get one of you as well._

_All my love_

_Kimiko_

**.:.:.:.**

The police were called over and the body was taken away after Rouge, Master Fung and the three monks were questioned.

"This is getting out of hand," the detective inspector had said before driving away. No one had said anything but they all agreed with him. They hadn't told him about the note they'd found in the woman's hand.

Now they were sat around the kitchen table yet again, picking half-heartedly at their supper of simple noodles. No one was really hungry.

"I know we've said this far too many times, but we've _really _got to do something," Raimundo said. "We've got to get Kimiko back and find out this R.L. is. We've done nothing so far and all its achieved is more murders and Kimiko's life in danger no matter how much she denies it." Omi and Clay nodded in agreement.

"Poor thing," Rouge sighed. Raimundo glanced at Rouge, thinking that maybe Rouge liked Kimiko as more than just a friend. And from a- ahem- very manly point of view, Rouge wasn't that bad looking. Did he feel threatened? Maybe a little bit, considering he wasn't with Kimiko himself and he had never told her he liked her. He'd never told anyone really. So how had Rex LeBay known? Was it that obvious? Oh god please say it's not obvious.

"Raimundo?" Omi asked. Raimundo came back to reality and looked at Omi. "I was saying whether you think we should find this Rex LeBay tomorrow."

"Does it matter what I think, Omi?" Raimundo asked.

"No," Omi smiled. "I just wanted to be polite." Raimundo rolled his eyes.

"After we've done that I'm going to find Kimiko, and I don't care what _you_ think Omi," Raimundo said. "I'm worried about her." He felt himself flush and quickly looked down at his hardly untouched supper.

"She killed that innocent woman," Omi said.

"She's not evil and she's definitely not a murderer!" Raimundo shouted, his temper finally deserting him. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "I think it's that R.L again, just trying to fuck with our heads. Whether Kimiko _has_ gone evil or not, she'd never kill anyone. I know she wouldn't." With that, Raimundo got to his feet and left the kitchen. Omi and Clay looked at each other sadly.

"I'll go and see if he's alright in a bit. Give him a chance to calm down first," Rouge said. Clay smiled gratefully at Rouge.

**.:.:.:.**

Rouge didn't enter Raimundo's room until an hour afterwards. Raimundo was lying on his stomach, his face pressed against his pillow and his arm curled around Ninja Fred.

"Raimundo?" Rouge said.

"Go away," Raimundo's voice was muffled by the pillow. Rouge didn't move. Eventually Raimundo rolled over onto his back; Ninja Fred clutched to his chest and looked into Rouge's dark brown eyes.

"Kimiko wouldn't kill anyone," he said.

"I don't doubt it," Rouge replied softly. He sat down on the floor in front of Raimundo, brushing his too-long fringe out of his face as he did so. "She'll come back. I think she's just really confused about her dad dying and she doesn't really know what to do."

"I thought that," Raimundo said.

"And you know her better than me," Rouge said, smiling. "And...you're an expert." Raimundo just looked at Rouge.

"I was just kidding," Rouge said quickly, holding his hands up to show Raimundo he'd meant no harm. Raimundo's eyes dropped to his teddy bear and he played restlessly with its arms, almost childishly.

"That teddy bear looks old," Rouge said, smiling a bit.

"My brother got me it for my fifth birthday before he died," Raimundo said quietly.

"What was his name?" Rouge asked.

"Thiago," Raimundo said. "He was twelve. He was the oldest, but he always used to play with me."

"Must have been hard getting used to him not being there," Rouge said, gently. Raimundo nodded, still looking down at his teddy bear. They were both sat in silence for quite a while until Raimundo yawned loudly and Rouge left.

**I hope you liked it, remember to review**


	9. The Possession Necklace II

**This is probably one of the shortest chapters so far but I did my best. I hope you like it.**

**Chapter 9**

**The Possession Necklace II**

Omi and Clay were sat at the kitchen table looking at the note left by Kimiko once again.

"What do you think, Clay?" Omi asked.

"I know Kimiko would never kill anyone but it's definitely her handwriting," Clay sighed. Omi looked at Clay sadly.

Raimundo was still in his room and he had been there all day. He hadn't even had his breakfast and the smell of cooking dinner wafting through the halls did nothing to tempt him out.

"I am worried about Raimundo too," Omi said.

"Yeah, he seems to be taking this harder than we are," Clay agreed.

"He's worried about Kimiko," Rouge said as he strolled into the kitchen, Dojo curled comfortably around his shoulders. "That's what he told me. He refuses to accept that she's gone and that she's killed someone. I'll admit, it really doesn't seem like her." He sat down opposite Omi and Dojo slithered onto the table.

"Yeah, she never seemed like the likeliest one to turn evil," Dojo said. "It was always..." he trailed off and jabbed his thumb in the direction of Raimundo's room. Omi and Clay nodded.

"What's the plan for today then kids?" Dojo asked.

"Well, we're going to try and get Raimundo to help us find this Rex LeBay and ask him about the murders...and Kimiko," Clay said.

"So who wants the job?" Dojo asked. Omi and Clay said nothing.

"He was talking to me last night, I could try and get him to come," Rouge suggested. Omi smiled gratefully, Clay smiled guiltily.

**.:.:.:.**

As it turned out, Rouge was unsuccessful and he agreed to stay behind in case Raimundo decided to leave his bedroom later on while Omi, Clay and Dojo were gone. Omi had finally offered to talk to Raimundo himself but Master Fung said Raimundo should be left alone until he was ready to talk to them himself. So Omi and Clay took off to the skies, astride Dojo in search of a man they had never met and never seen and knew hardly anything about.

Raimundo lay on his mattress gazing blankly out at the afternoon sky when he saw a green streak that could only be one thing.

"Where are they going?" he asked himself, wondering why no one had come to tell him there was a new Shen Gong Wu or that they were going out looking for Kimiko or Rex LeBay. That made him feel angry. It made him feel like maybe he wasn't _important_ enough (by Omi's standards) to go out looking for their friend. He looked down at Ninja Fred's reassuring face and clutched the bear to his chest, thinking about Thiago. Thiago wouldn't have thought he was unimportant. If only he was still alive.

**.:.:.:.**

Dojo circled the skies of China, knowing Rex LeBay could hardly have gone far in two days but they didn't find a single trace of him. They didn't even find a single trace of Kimiko. They headed back the Temple three hours later, disheartened and defeated, to find they had a visitor. Kimiko and Raimundo were standing face to face in the Temple grounds. It was clear there had already been some fighting; Raimundo had a bloody nose and his right eye was already darkening to a bruise and Kimiko had a bust lower lip that was spilling blood down her chin and making her look like something out of a horror film. Dojo landed not too far away from them and Omi and Clay jumped off his back, already preparing themselves for a fight.

"She was heading for the vault again but I stopped her before she got anything," Raimundo said, not taking his eyes off Kimiko.

"Where is Rouge?" Omi asked.

"He went out about an hour ago for a walk or something," Raimundo said. "Does it matter?" At that moment, Kimiko flipped into the air, landed with her hands on Raimundo's shoulders, flipped right over him and kicked him in the back, pushing him forward. He let out a startled yell as he threw his out his hands to break his fall. Kimiko was racing towards the Temple vault. Omi and Clay ran after her.

"Orb of Tornami!" Omi called. Water burst from the little blue orb and flew in an arc over Kimiko. It circled around her and closed in. The crushing weight of the water knocked her over and she landed in a heap on the ground, but before Omi and Clay could get closer, she was up again. Now Raimundo was on his feet and sprinting towards them filled with nothing but rage. He ran straight past Omi and Clay and dived at Kimiko. He caught her around the waist and knocked her down again.

"STOP DOING THIS!" he roared into the back on her head. "YOU'RE NOT EVIL AND YOU'RE NOT A MURDERER! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" He rolled her over onto her front and stopped. When he had knocked her over a necklace had come free from under her shirt. A necklace that explained everything. The Possession Necklace. Raimundo stared at it, his anger evaporating, but he paused a second too long and Kimiko threw a punch at him. He was knocked to the side, clutching his head in pain. Kimiko jumped to her feet. Omi and Clay were seconds away.

"Judallet Flip, fire!" Kimiko said. She flipped into the air on a jet of fire and landed behind Omi and Clay. She tripped Clay over and he fell over Omi and they both landed in a tangled heap on the grass. Kimiko giggled. Raimundo was up again and he ran at Kimiko, but this time he made a grab for the Possession Necklace. Omi and Clay hadn't seen it. She dodged out of the way and he skidded to a halt, turning to face her, ready for another tackle, but Kimiko's plans for stealing Shen Gong Wu seemed to have vanished.

"Golden Tiger Claws!" Kimiko called.

"Oh no you don't!" Raimundo growled under breath and he ran at Kimiko. He felt like he'd never ran faster in his life, he hardly felt his feet touch the ground. Kimiko had already vanished into the vortex and the gash in the air was healing itself. With his heart pounding furiously in his head, Raimundo leaped towards it. He saw it closing and thought he'd never make it, but just as the thought crossed his mind, the grey circled around him and the slash was closing behind him.

"Raimundo, no!" Omi cried, but Raimundo only heard it distantly. Within seconds, the Temple was gone. His head swam and the sight of the circling grey vortex made him feel nauseous. Then there was light and he tumbled out of a second rip in the air. He landed on his stomach on a hard, dirty, rocky ground, his head spinning. It was dark. He couldn't see where he was. Then there was approaching footsteps. Raimundo began to panic. Where had Kimiko taken him? And was Kimiko herself? Then a tall figure stood before him and Raimundo looked up into its cruel, glinting eyes.

"Raimundo Pedrosa, well this _is_ a surprise," the familiar voice said, a cackled in its own amusement.

"No...you?" Raimundo gasped. "It can't be you." And then the figure kicked him forcefully in the side of his head. His head seemed to explode with pain, then everything went black and Raimundo remembered no more.

**I hope you liked it, **_**please**_** remember to review, I really appreciate it. Chapter 10 shouldn't be too long.**


	10. Meet Your Master

**This is my favourite chapter so far I think. However, I'm not updating again until I get more reviews, because I'm **_**just that**_** horrible. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10**

**Meet Your Master**

It had been a week exactly since Raimundo followed Kimiko through the hole slashed in the air by the Golden Tiger Claws and neither of them had been seen since. The Sun was setting behind the mountains of China in the west and the sky was a perfect, cloudless, lilac colour. Several stars were already making their appearance, gazing down on the too-empty too-quite Xiaolin Temple.

Omi, Clay and Rouge were gathered around the kitchen table yet again after another fruitless search, not just for Rex LeBay, but for Raimundo as well. The only good news was that there had been no more murders. The two remaining monks and their friend hadn't even bothered making supper today, knowing it would just get wasted.

"What if...what if Kimiko killed Raimundo?" Clay asked.

"That is nonsense Clay, I'm sure Kimiko would never do such a thing!" Omi said.

"Yeah, but suppose she _did_ kill that woman. That means she could easily kill again," Clay said, sadly. Omi didn't reply.

"I'm sure he'll come back," Rouge said after several moments of uncomfortable silence. "Maybe she has done something to him, but I agree with Omi. Even if she did kill that woman, she couldn't kill any of you, surely. But Raimundo's tough, if she's done something he can get away, I bet." Omi and Clay looked at Rouge disbelieving but wanting to believe.

"What if Raimundo has turned evil as well?" Omi said. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"I'm sure he learned his lesson from the first time," Clay said defensively. Again, Omi said nothing.

"Look, we don't know what happened to either of them and guessing isn't going to help. We'll find them," Rouge said encouragingly. "I'm going to bed." He got up and left.

**.:.:.:.**

**Raimundo's POV**

_My head was pounding from the number of blows it had taken and my whole body felt weak. I wasn't sure how long I'd been there- I'd been unconscious most of the time and it's hard to tell whether it was night or day- but I was sure it had been a few days now. I hadn't seen Kimiko since I followed her through the Tiger Claws. I hadn't seen anyone except _him_ when he came to feed me what little scraps he had or when he came to knock me out again to stop me calling for help. He said no one would hear me down here, it was just annoying. My arms ached from the chains that tied them above my head to a metal loop protruding from the rocky wall. My legs were chained together as well to make sure I didn't lash out and try and kick him. There was even a belt around my neck and another chain tying it to the wall behind me so I could hardly move at all. I must have been in this positing for so long and never mind my head and my arms, my whole body throbbed with the pain of sitting in an uncomfortable position for too long, especially when I was unconscious._

_I couldn't see much around me; my eyes hadn't adjusted to the gloom yet, but I knew that if he was coming I would hear him. Then I would pretend to still be unconscious so he wouldn't hit me again and just pray to dear Jesus that he hadn't hurt my friends as well. I hoped they'd discover him before he revealed himself and beat the living shit out of him then come and find me and Kimiko. Until then, all I could was wait._

**End Raimundo's POV**

**.:.:.:.**

Omi and Clay remained at the table as the lilac sky darkened to velvety blue and then finally to midnight black and the starts shone brightly, the Temple lit by rays of moonlight. And then there was a crash from outside a squeal of panic that could belong to no one but Jack Spicer. Omi and Clay were on their feet in an instant and racing to the Temple grounds. Jack was lying in a heap on the dark, damp grass with a broken helibot strapped to his back. Omi and Clay just looked at him.

"Jack, you useless boy!" Wuya scolded.

"It wasn't my fault! Something hit me!" Jack whined.

"Well I didn't see anything," Wuya said.

"Neither did I, but I felt it!" Jack said. Wuya just rolled her eyes.

"Jack Spicer-" Omi began but jack cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, prepare for a most humiliating defeat. Can you at least wait until I get over _this_ humiliating incident?" Jack snapped. He picked himself up off the ground and bushed himself off. Then he looked around, peering into the dark sky, looking for any sigh of what he might have flew into. The sky was completely empty. All except for one dark shape, flying towards them from the opposite direction. Moments later, Chase Young landed beside Jack and Wuya.

"What are you doing here?" Clay demanded.

"I received this lovely note," Chase said, holding up a small scrap of paper.

_Dear Chase Young _it read.

_You've been such a kind master to me these last few hundred years or so, I'd like you to see this. Be at the Xiaolin Temple by midnight tonight._

_R.L._

"Master?" Clay asked. Chase shrugged.

"Yeah, I got a note like that!" Jack said excitedly. "Only, it wasn't really for me." He dug around in his pockets and produced another note from R.L.

_Jack Spicer,_

_Be at the Xiaolin Temple at midnight tonight. Bring dear Wuya._

_R.L._

_p.s. don't be late or you'll miss it and don't be too early or you'll screw everything up_

"What's going on?" Clay asked uneasily.

"What's _that_?" Omi gasped, pointing to the Temple grounds wall behind Chase. Everyone turned to look and gasped just as Omi had done. On the Temple grounds wall, which had been spotlessly clean just a few moments before, written in letters that were still dripping with fresh blood were the words: _Meet your master_.

"What..." Omi began, but even as he was speaking a figure was materializing in front of those words. He just seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was tall and pale skin. There was a scar above his right, dark brown eye and his dark red hair fell almost to his shoulders. It was Rouge Riddell.

"Rouge!" Wuya gasped.

"What a pleasant surprise," Chase said in his usual calm voice.

"You!" Omi and Clay cried. "But...but...it doesn't make sense!" Omi flapped his arms in the air for emphasis, making Clay take a step back to avoid being hit.

"My name's Rouge LeBay, not Riddell," he explained. "I'm Wuya's husband."

"Husband?" Clay exclaimed, feeling slightly nauseous.

"What, just because I'm an evil Heylin witch I can't get married?" Wuya snapped at Clay.

"Not that you can't I just never thought you _would_," Clay replied.

"It was years ago. Before Dashi trapped me in that damn puzzle box," Wuya said. "What happened to you?" Her eyes were back in Rouge.

"After Hannibal turned Chase here Heylin and Chase locked him in the Ying Yang world, he still thought the Heylin side was a bit too full and he turned me into one of his damn jungle cats," Rouge said. Wuya threw Chase an angry glare. "But when these idiots messed up again and freed Hannibal, he was able to change be back as long as I served him. I thought; fuck that, so I sent that pesky little bean into a nice deep sleep with the Sleeping Star I stole off Jack."

"You lied to me!" Omi said looking at Chase with not anger, but bitter disappointment. Chase ignored him.

"And now I'm going to give you a body again, Wuya my dear, and we'll make those brats pay for what they've done to you. I've already got two of them. One of them I'm sure you'll want to punish for betraying you," Rouge said.

"Raimundo!" Omi said. "Don't you hurt my friends!"

"Quite, boy!" Rouge barked and Omi fell silent.

"How did you get them?" Wuya asked, her ghostly body quivering with excitement.

"I pretended I'd been attacked so they'd bring me here, to the Temple, where I stole their Shen Gong Wu. Kimiko came crying to me about her father's murder and I possessed with the Possession Necklace. When she tried to steal more Shen Gong Wu the other monks attacked so she fled and Raimundo followed her right into my trap," Rouge said, a smug grin on his face. Omi and Clay just stared at Rouge, stunned.

"You've really thought of everything, haven't you," Wuya said, hovering over to where Rouge stood.

"So...hang up the telephone, who is _Rex_ LeBay?" Omi asked.

"My little brother," Rouge said rolling his eyes. "He really is useless trust me. He used to like Wuya but she left him for me _because_ he's so useless. He's hated her ever since."

"Well...I suppose that makes sense," Clay said doubtfully.

"And now my dear," Rouge said, turning to Wuya. "It's time." He brought the Reversing Mirror and The Serpent's Tail out from him pocket and placed the Mirror in front of Wuya.

"I cannot allow this to happen!" Omi called. He started toward Rouge and Wuya but Rouge clicked his fingers and rocky hands emerged from the ground, grabbing hold of Omi and Clay's ankles in a death grip.

"Serpent's Tail!" Rouge said.

"Reversing Mirror!" Wuya exclaimed, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. There was a bang and flash of blinding green light. Grey clouds rolled across the previously clear sky and a threatening chill descended on the Temple grounds. Wuya rose from the ground, her ghostly body contorting and twisting out of shape, her arms growing longer and her ghostly tail splitting in two and lengthening into legs, all the while she was becoming more and more solid. Her red hair blew around her still masked face as she slowly returned to the ground. Rouge approached his wife and gently removed the mask, tossing it away into the dirt. Omi and Clay stood, hypnotised, as Wuya and Rouge embraced.

"I knew it was you when Kimiko stole the Sun Chi Lantern from Jack," Wuya said, smiling softly.

"Yeah...can I have that back?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Quite, you," Wuya snapped. "You want to be careful Jack, now that I don't need you anymore." Jack squealed and took a step back.

"Would you like to see our prisoners now, Wuya?" Rouge asked, taking Wuya's hand in his.

"I'd like that very much, Rouge," Wuya said and laughed cruelly.

"We'll see you very soon, Xiaolin monks. Thank you for your hospitality," Rouge said to Clay and Omi. Then he turned to look at Chase. "As for you, I'll have to think long and hard to decide what _you_ deserve, but you'll see me again soon, trust me." Wuya cackled. Rouge clicked his fingers and the rocky hands holding Omi and Clay crumbled, then she and Rouge vanished, just the same way as Rouge had done when he first appeared in front of the graffitied wall. There was a small clap as the air rushed in to fill the space where they had previously stood and then there was complete silence.

**Let me know if you guessed right! Remember, no new chapters until I get more reviews. Reviews make me happy you see. I hope you liked it.**


	11. Rouge and Rex LeBay

**Thank you everyone who's reviewed so far, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. I hope you like this chapter.**

**Chapter 11**

**Rouge and Rex LeBay**

Mere seconds had passed since Wuya and Rouge's departure and panic was beginning to overwhelm the two remaining Xiaolin monks. The unnatural clouds that seemed to appear out of nowhere were threatening rain.

"What just happened?" Clay asked nervously.

"You couldn't handle Wuya on her own," Chase said. "Together, it's so much worse."

"What am I supposed to do now she's gone off with him?" Jack said.

"Who exactly _is_ Rouge LeBay?" Omi demanded, ignoring Jack. Chase sighed.

"He was one of the first to join the Heylin side. He and Wuya together were almost unstoppable. They murdered thousands of people. They used to kidnap then and torture them. Just for fun. It seemed like the days of darkness were going to go for eternity, but then Dashi trapped Wuya in the puzzle box and Rouge fled, afraid of a worse punishment. No one seen hide nor hair of him for years. Then he returned, right out of the blue. That was after I myself had turned to the dark side and I didn't like him being there. Just like that horrible little bean, so I enslaved him as a jungle cat, forever bound to do my bidding. But you idiots let Hannibal out, and Hannibal freed Rouge, thinking he could enslave him himself, but it turns out I was much cleverer than Hannibal. I knew Rouge was only captured when he was powerless, Hannibal thought he'd just be grateful but he was wrong. Now Rouge is free and Wuya has a body and if they are not stopped we will all, to put it simply, be doomed," Chase said. He looked up at the dark sky as the first cold drops of rain began to fall.

"How can we stop them?" Omi asked.

"I'm not sure. Grand Master Dashi is the only one who's ever done it," Chase said, looking back at Omi with his golden cats' eyes. "All I know for sure is that they'll start off with the ones who they feel have wronged them. That means me and you four. _Especially _Raimundo Pedrosa. And they already have him, so if I were you, I'd try and rescue him before it's too late." Omi was about to ask another question when Chase simply turned his back to them and took off into the dark sky. The rain was coming down hard and heavy now as Omi, Clay and Jack watched Chase disappear into the night.

"Do you guys have any flying Shen Gong Wu...or transport Shen Gong Wu? My helibot's broke. I think now I might have flown into Rouge," Jack said. Clay simply looked at Jack.

"That's it!" Omi cried. "Rouge just appeared out of nowhere, but he was there the whole time to write those words on the wall and no one heard him. He can make himself invisible and silent! And maybe...ghostlike, so he could get into Kimiko's father's house and write that message on the wall without anyone seeing or hearing anything, and he got into your lair and stole the Sleeping Star without you noticing!"

"Well, that makes sense, yeah," Jack said. "And the answer to my question would be..."

"Walk, you dirty snake," Clay growled.

"But it's pouring with rain! My mam will kill me for getting this coat wet!" Jack whined. Clay ignored him, Omi hadn't heard him at all, he was lost in his own train of thought.

"Rouge has all the dangerous Shen Gong Wu and he also the Sun Shi Lantern. Maybe so he can defeat us at our own fun," Omi said. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Beat us at our own game," Clay said.

"You deserve a medal," Jack said, rolling his eyes.

"We must speak to everyone who knows Rouge well. We _must_ find his brother and talk to him and I'm afraid we may have to recover the Sleeping Star and awaken Hannibal Roy Bean. We'll need his help."

"You know," Jack said, placing his yellow goggles over his eyes to protect them from the rain. "Chase was right. You do always automatically go the Heylin side for help. You should think about that." Then he left, heading home. Again, Omi didn't reply.

"We must speak with Master Fung. Perhaps he will have some knowledge of how to defeat Rouge LeBay," Omi said. Clay nodded, rain dripping from the brim of his sodden hat. They trudged through the mud and into the shelter of the Temple. There wasn't a single sound except for the pounding of the rain on the roof and windows.

"It's _too_ quiet," Clay said, as though the thoughts of the silent Temple had been spoken out loud. Hair pricked up on the back of his neck and an unsettling feeling began in his stomach. Something was wrong. And then it came to him.

"Hang out, Master Fung would have gone outside when Wuya was there..." he trailed off. Omi was walking ahead of him. Clay followed. He followed Omi into the kitchen and there, on the table, was one of Rouge LeBay's world famous notes. Omi picked it up nervously, but with a brave face and read it aloud.

_Dear Omi and Clay_

_It was such a shame to do this since you've all been ever so nice to me, but in order to make you a little more...defenceless, I have taken your master and your dragon. Let's see how you get on all by yourselves. Good luck._

_Your good friend,_

_Rouge LeBay_

_Xxx_

"That son of a-"

"We have to rescue them!" Omi said, cutting Clay off. "He has taken Kimiko and Raimundo and now he has gone too far!" Omi's hands were balled into fists and they were shaking, not with fear, but with uncontrollable rage. "We're going to find Rex LeBay and we will not rest until we have found him." Without waiting for a reply, Omi left the kitchen and headed for the Temple vault. Clay followed silently.

**.:.:.:.**

**Raimundo's POV**

_Still chained in that horrible position, my arms were now completely numb. My neck was sore and I was starting to get claustrophobic. It had occurred to me that all Rouge needed to do was tighten the belt around my neck and I was dead man. But I knew he didn't want me dead. Not yet anyways._

_Two shapes began to materialise in front of me and I was too mesmerized by their appearance to remember to pretend to be unconscious. Never mind my heart of my stomach, my whole body felt like it had just been dropped off an extremely high cliff. Before me stood Rouge LeBay and Wuya._

"_Oh, Raimundo, you're awake to meet your visitor, how very polite of you," Rouge said, his everlasting grin fixed firmly in place. It seemed like the wind had changed one day and that grin was stuck on his face forever. The wind had replaced his American accent with this hideous, terrifying grin of pleasure._

"_Wuya here will be tending to you from now on," Rouge said, and Wuya's smile matched her husband's. "Whatever happens to you is up to her. When you're fed- if at all- maybe if you get let out for a little walk, stretch your legs a bit and when you die. And come to think of it... _how_ you die." Wuya laughed with joyful cruelty, her brilliant green eyes fixed on mine. She knelt down in front of my and ran her slender fingers across my cheek. The feel of it made me shudder and my arms broke out in goosebumps that I couldn't feel._

"_We'll have fun, won't we Raimundo?" Wuya said softly. "We've got a lot of...catching up to do." She smiled at me but her eyes glinted with malice. Then she got to her feet and dusted off her black dress. She turned and left the room without another word. Rouge turned to follow her then paused and looked back at me._

"_Oh, and another thing Raimundo, your friends may know what's going on now, but there's only two of them left and they'll never find you down here. They won't even hear you shouting even if they were just on the other side of this door." He left the room and the afore mentioned door swung shut behind him, drowning me in complete darkness and deafening silence._

**End Raimundo's POV**

**.:.:.:.**

Riding in the Crouching Cougar, Omi and Clay searched desperately for Rex LeBay. They asked people if they had seen him, describing his appearance over and over again but no one had. Or at least they didn't think they had, considering the only people out on the streets at this time of night were mostly drunk.

"This is hopeless," Clay sighed in a mixture of annoyance and sadness.

"We are not giving up," Omi said. "We will not rest until we have found him."

"Found who?" a voice asked from behind them, making them both yell out in surprise. Omi hit the wrong button and they nearly galloped headlong into a shop shutter. The Crouching Cougar came to a halt and Omi and Clay swivelled around in their seats and there, in the back seat, was Rex LeBay.

"But...how long have you been there?" Omi said.

"About an hour, maybe more," Rex said, smiling. It wasn't a particularly unpleasant smile but it held certain similarities to Rouge's. "It was very amusing. And my eyes are brown, not blue."

"Well we only had a description of what Raimundo saw in the dark," Clay said, surprisingly calm. "That's why that last woman was lookin' at us like we were mad."

"How did you get there? Or do you share the same powers as Rouge?" Omi asked. Rex just looked at Omi, that smile firmly in place, his brown eyes moving from Omi to Clay in amusement.

"Never mind," Omi said. "We need to ask you some questions about your brother."

"Of course you do," Rex said.

"Well, first off, when you were talking to Raimundo that night, did you know Rouge was with us?" Clay asked.

"No, I didn't. I knew he had been freed from Chase's...punishment," Rex's smile widened at the last word and a hint of bitter delight. "Raimundo's the only known person besides Grand Master Dashi himself to have defeated Wuya and I wanted her gone before Rouge got to her."

"What about defeating Chase and Hannibal Bean as well?" Clay asked.

"With them gone too I could be the most powerful," Rex said as though this was obvious though his smile never faltered. It seemed eternal amusement ran in the family.

"Well now we need _your_ help," Omi said, a tiny hint of pleading in his voice but he kept most of it at bay. "Rouge has taken three of our friends and he has taken Master Fung."

"What do you want me to do? I could never match up to wonderful little Rouge," Rex said.

"Well now you've got a chance to try. We know you're evil but that doesn't matter anymore. We can worry about that when we've beaten Rouge and Wuya," Clay said. Rex considered it for a moment, his brown eyes drifting up to the dark sky that still spilled heavy drops of rain onto the Earth. For a moment it seemed he had forgotten Omi and Clay were there and then he looked back at them.

"I'll make you a deal," he said. Omi and Clay looked at him nervously. "I'll help you as long as when we've beat them, you don't do anything to me, evil or not." Omi let out a sigh of relief.

"Deal," he said.

"Excellent," Rex said, his smile brighter than ever and- seemingly- friendlier. "So, what do you want to know?"

"For a start, what can we expect? What...powers does Rouge have?" Clay said.

"Well he's got the same powers as me except he's got that average Heylin magic as well. I'm guessing you've seen that from Wuya?" Omi and Clay nodded. Rex nodded as well. "Yeah, he's got that. He can fly and turn invisible. Except it's more ghostly than invisible. He can make himself completely silent and his physical form is just...you know...gone," Rex finished lamely. "Like, he can go through walls and that, that's the best I can describe it. But he can do it at will. Sometime he can just turn invisible and that's it. He can teleport, I'm sure you've seen that now. That's about it. What else?"

"...Well, what about this whole business of Wuya between you two," Clay suggested. Omi nodded.

"Ah, well," Rex said. He shifted in his seat, getting more comfortable then he ran his hands through his hair and looked up at the weeping sky again.

"We both liked her right from the beginning. It started off as admiration, more than anything. Admiration at her power and then slowly turned to lust. She saw me first and we were together for about a year but, admittedly, I did fuck up some of her plans. It happened about three times in a whole year and that's it but it wasn't good enough for Wuya and she left me. She damn near nearly killed me actually. Now, Rouge, Rouge has always be the absolute _best_ at everything. Mam and dad adored him-"

"Mam and dad?" Clay asked, trying and failing to hide his amusement. "Sorry, I just never thought of people like you and Wuya and that having parents."

"We have to come from somewhere," Rex said amiably. "Anyway, yeah, they adored him. He was always better than me no matter what and it drove me insane! It really did."

"You sound like my little sister," Clay said.

"It was only natural that Wuya should become fixated on amazing fucking Rouge instead. That's all there is to it really, assuming Chase Young told you everything else," Res said looking at Omi. Omi nodded.

"How do we stop him?" Omi asked.

"I'm not sure," Rex said. Omi and Clay looked at Rex desperately. "The only person who's ever done it is Chase and that was sheer luck I think. Your best chance is to get Chase to do what he did last time and then take care of Wuya."

"Will you help us?" Omi asked. He voice wavered uncertainly but he fixed Rex with a determined glare.

"Why not?" Rex said, his grin was wider than ever and it was hard to resist. Omi and Clay smiled back. Omi turned back to the controls and they rode the Crouching Cougar back to the Temple through the pouring rain.

**I hope you liked it. I'll update as soon as I can!**


	12. Three Down, One To Go

**I worked quite hard on this chapter so I hope you like it and will take the time to review after you've read it. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 12**

**Three Down, One To Go**

"Rouge!" Chase said, startled out of usually calm persona by Rouge's sudden appearance.

"Sun Chi Lantern!" Rouge called, holding the Shen Gong Wu out in front of him. The power was ripped out of Chase's body and flooded into Rouge's, filling him with exhilarating energy. He basked in the feeling of so much energy running through his veins, making his whole body feel warm and more powerful than ever. The intensity of it slowly ebbed away but Rouge could still feel all that new power. Chase fell to his knees, panting, as if he had just run a marathon. Rouge looked at him with a pitiful smile on his pale face. Then he raised his hands and clicked his fingers. Blue light seemed to swallow his body and raised him off the ground. He writhed in pain in midair as his whole skeleton altered itself. His knees bent the other way and his legs thickened, ripping his clothes and growing black fur. His hands and feet curled into paws and his nose and mouth elongated and became a snout, sprouting whiskers. For the final touch, a long, black tail whipped into view and his cries of pain became animalistic snarls. He fell to the ground in his panther form and landed on his four paws. Rouge cackled with victorious entertainment.

"How do you like it, Chase?" he asked the panther. "Now _you_ will serve _me_." As if to prove a point, Chase sat down and gazed at Rouge with expectant yellow, cat's eyes. "Good kitty," Rouge said gleefully, scratching Chase behind the ears. Then, with his hand still placed on the cat's head, Rouge and Chase teleported back to Rouge's palace.

**.:.:.:.**

Gathered around the table they seemed to be spending so much time at recently, Omi, Clay and Rex were discussing the subject of Rex's Heylin brother.

"I have another question," Clay said. Rex looked at Clay, smiling invitingly. "If Rouge was planning to give Wuya a body and then do all this, why did he commit all those murders? What was the point?"

"Rouge likes to play with his food, so to speak," Rex replied. His smile was still in place and that somehow made the impact of what he said worse. Clay shivered and Omi felt his stomach turn sickeningly.

"Murdering Toshiro Tohomiko was a valid part of his plan though I imagine. He needed Kimiko to get to Raimundo and that was the best way to do it," Rex said. He leaned back in his chair, his tattooed arms folded across his chest and his legs crossed and his simply watched Omi and Clay. Omi swallowed his disgust and set his mind back to the problem at hand.

"I think we need to get Chase Young to help us," Omi said.

"I suppose you're right, little partner," Clay sighed.

**.:.:.:.**

Once more riding in the Crouching Cougar through the day that was almost as dark as night (it always seemed to be night now, except for the coin of golden light trying to force its way through the dark clouds), Omi, Clay and Rex galloped to Chase's palace. They climbed out of the Shen Gong Wu and approached the big, rock doorway. Usually, the door opened by itself at their approach, but today was different. And the reason for the different was pinned to the door itself, fluttering in a cold breeze. Omi snatched it down, already knowing what to expect, his hands shaking slightly.

_Omi, Clay and darling brother,_

_I'm pretty sure you'll decide you need to ask Chase for help since he got me last time, but tough luck, I got there first. I've given Chase a taste of his own medicine and now he works for me. Sorry. Have a good day._

_Rouge_

_Xxx_

"How does he know Rex is with us?" Omi asked.

"Probably the same way he knew you'd go to Chase for help. You're very predictable," Rex smiled. "Next, I'm guessing, you're thinking of going to Rouge's palace and trying to fight him yourself." Omi looked at Rex and Rex just smiled back at him, his hair falling across his forehead in the breeze. Clay looked out to the distance where the rocky spires of Rouge's palace. It looked a lot like Wuya's palace last time Raimundo had given her a body and brought her to power.

"What else can we do?" Clay said, still looking at the palace, thinking of Raimundo, Kimiko, Master Fung and Dojo locked away in there. Supposing Kimiko wasn't still possessed that was. And what was Wuya doing to Raimundo? Was he already dead? There was no way they could know but Clay wanted to put an end to this before someone else _did_ die. Without a word, Omi clambered back into the Crouching Cougar. Rex followed. Clay tore his eyes away from the almost hypnotising view of the palace and climbed in beside Omi. They headed off in the direction of that palace.

"So let me get this straight, we're just going to barge straight in there without a plan or anything?" Rex asked. He laughed lightly but for a moment Omi was sure he heard a slight hint of uneasiness in it. And why not? Omi was scared of Rouge and Wuya and Rex had seen a lot more of their power than he had.

"We don't have a choice," Clay sighed. "We've got to find out what they're doing to our friends." He looked back at the nearing rocky castle and shuddered.

**.:.:.:.**

**Raimundo's POV**

_It felt like the pain would never stop. It felt like my whole body was going to explode with it. I couldn't take anymore but it went on forever and I could hear nothing but the sounds of my own screams echoing off the walls and Wuya's insane, evil laughter. She was enjoying this. I could feel fresh, warm blood gushing down my arms and my face, soaking my already filthy clothes, and salty tears of pain ran into the cuts on my wounded face, making them sting even more._

_Finally, miraculously, she stopped. It was over. For now anyway. And the pain was still there._

"_Do you get it now Raimundo?" Wuya asked, no longer laughing. Her voice and her eyes were filled with nothing but disgust and rage as she looked down at me, chained up, bleeding and crying in this dark, rocky, room._

"_This is what you get when you mess with me," she said. "You're going to die. You're going to die from the pain and I'm not going to help speed it up. It'll be slow and you'll suffer more than you've ever suffered in your life and maybe _then_ you'll understand what happens to people who fuck with me." She got to her feet, her eyes still on me but I could hardly see her, my vision was tripled by tears and blurred by pain. She left, but just before she shut the door, Rouge appeared, leading Kimiko in front of him. He ripped the Possession Necklace from her throat then threw her forward into the room, then the door closed and we were in darkness._

"_Raimundo?" I heard Kimiko say. She was crying. "Raimundo, what's going on? Where am I?" It wasn't hard to work out that Kimiko didn't remember anything._

"_Kimiko," I gasped, trying to fight the shakiness out of my voice. "Kimiko, make a fire so we can see." She did nothing but sob for a few moments and thought she was ignoring me but then a small fire burst into life in the palm if her left hand. She slowly got to her feet, tears gushing down her pale cheeks and approached me._

"_Raimundo!" Kimiko said and began to cry more. It's no wonder really; I imagine I looked pretty bad. She kneeled down in front of me and stroked my cheek with her right hand, the one that wasn't holding the fire._

"_How long have you been here?" she asked._

"_I don't know," I replied. "It feels like forever, though." My voice was weak and the pain was unbearable but I tried my best to hide it. I didn't want to scare her anymore._

"_Rai, it was him. It was Rouge!" Kimiko said._

"_I know," I said._

"_What's going on?" I didn't want to explain everything to her but I knew I had to. So I did. I told her everything. I told her about Rouge and Rex LeBay and Wuya and how Rouge had possessed Kimiko and made her steal our Shen Gong Wu and (maybe) kill someone and how I had followed her here through the Golden Tiger Claws. When I finished she was crying harder than ever._

"_I'm so sorry!" she wept. "I'm so, so sorry Rai!"_

"_It wasn't your fault. You didn't know what you were doing," I said reassuringly._

"_He made me kill someone?" she sobbed._

"_We're not really sure, but there was a note in her hand and it was definitely your writing," I said sadly._

"_Oh my god!" tears were dripped from her jaw onto the floor._

"_Kimiko, it wasn't really you, he made you do it!" I said. It was all I could think of to say._

"_What are we going to do?" Kimiko asked._

"_We'll just have to hope Omi and Clay find us," I said._

"_What have they done to Master Fung and Dojo?" Kimiko asked. Endless questions._

"_I don't know," I said. Even my throat was beginning to hurt from so much screaming and crying, and from this damn belt around my neck._

"_I was just in my room and I was thinking about daddy," Kimiko said and at the mention of her dad she began to sob even harder. The sound of it was deafening in this large, rocky room. She fire crackled, unheard in her left hand. "And he came in and asked if I wanted to talk. I said I didn't but he came in anyway and he put his arm around me and he hugged me and he said it'd be alright. So I just let him and then he got the Possession Necklace out and tried to put it on me and I pushed him away but he was stronger than me! And then...now...I'm here," she looked around at the gloomy room. The fire cast long shadows on the walls and across her face. She looked ill and tired. There were dark semi-circles under her now dull, blue eyes. She looked back at me and began wiping blood gently off my face with her sleeve then she just looked at me. We looked at each other for what felt like hours but was really only a couple of seconds and then she leaned in and kissed my lightly on the lips. That was when I decided that didn't care about the pain as long as Kimiko was with me._

**End Raimundo's POV**

**.:.:.:.**

A lot sooner than they'd hoped, the Crouching Cougar came to a halt outside the palace and the three boys climbed slowly out, looking up at the tall building. Omi had a sickening moment of vertigo and he looked at the ground, his eyes screwed tightly shut until the dizziness passed. Rex was no longer smiling.

"Your brother," Clay said slowly. "Did he ever hurt you?" Rex looked at Clay questioningly. "Are you scared of him?"

"No," Rex lied and pushed open the heavy wooden doors to the palace's entrance hall. It seemed to be colder inside than it was out and Clay hugged himself for warmth and looked around. It was a massive, high ceilinged room and there were four doors on their left and right. Dead ahead was a long, rocky staircase leading up into the gloom and on either side of the staircase were two more doors. There were torches held in brackets between each door but the fire was an odd green colour and didn't give off much heat or light. The door swung shut behind them making all three of them jump and Clay cried out in surprise. Then there was an unnerving sound of padding footsteps and snarling drawing closer until a pair of yellow cat's eyes loomed into view. The rest of the cat followed and a panther stood before them, crouching slightly as if getting ready to pounce, saliva dripping from its fangs.

"Chase?" Omi asked. The panther stopped snarling momentarily as if in recognition but it began again almost instantly.

"How nice of you to join us," said a pleasant voice from the top of the staircase making them all jump again. Rouge descended the stairs; a smile identical to his younger brother's fixed on his face.

"Rex, long time, no see."

"I could say the same," Rex said, his own smile back in place. Standing before each other, the brother's could have been identical. Rouge reached the bottom of the stairs and scratched panther-Chase behind the ears. The cat sat obediently at his side.

"Enough chat chit, we've come for our friends," Omi said bravely.

"I'm afraid you can't have them. They belong to us now," Rouge said.

"They _belong_ to you?" Rex said, repulsed.

"Oh, Rex, what's happened to you? You're already helping the Xiaolin side and now you sound like you're _part_ of the Xiaolin side," Rouge said. Rex said nothing but he didn't drop his eyes from Rouge's.

"We're not leaving without them," Clay said.

"That is, if you leave at all," Rouge's smile broadened. He clicked his fingers and the little light there was was sucked out of the air and they were plunged into total darkness. There was a yell of fright and pain from beside Omi and then silence.

"Clay?" Omi said. There was no reply. "Clay?" His voice was shaking. "Rex?"

"I'm here," Rex said. Rouge laughed gleefully and the light reappeared. Wuya was now standing beside Rouge but Clay was gone.

"What have you done with him?" Omi ordered.

"Don't worry Omi, you'll see him soon enough. Now go before I change my mind and decide to keep you here as well," Rouge said. Surprisingly, Omi backed away. Rex, however, remained where he was.

"Oh Rex, it's been too long hasn't it?" Wuya said softly. She placed her hand delicately on Rex's cheek and he slapped it away. Wuya laughed.

"You should consider staying with the Xiaolin warriors. You're a lot like them," Wuya said. "What's left of them anyway." Omi tugged on the back of Rex's shirt.

"We must leave," Omi said.

"Just tell me one thing," Rex said, looking past Wuya, at Rouge. "Are any of them dead?"

"Not yet," Rouge grinned. Rex turned on his heel and left the palace.

"You have not seen the last of us!" Omi said fiercely. He followed Rex out into the cold, dark day.

"Three down, one to go," Rouge said quietly and Wuya grinned with pleasure.

**I hope you liked it. Also, I'm not very good with tenses so I'm sorry if I mess up on the POVs. The next chapter shouldn't be too long. Please review.**


	13. Taking Action

**Sorry about the wait, I got a bit slow. I did my absolute best with this chapter though so I hope you like it. I'd also like to warn you that I don't have microsoft word anymore so I'm using wordpad, therefore I don't have spell check. I've checked it myself but there's bound to be loads I've missed so I'm really sorry for that. I hope you like it anyways.**

**Chapter 13**

**Taking Action**

Kimiko, Clay and Master Fung had been chained to the rocky walls of the room where Raimundo was chained up and Dojo was locked in a small cage in the corner with nothing but tiny holes in the sides for him to breathe. Tears were streaming down Kimiko's pale cheeks in an endless river as Raimundo's screams of pain once more bounced off the walls and his chains rattled as he writhed in pain.

"Please, leave him alone!" Kimiko begged, but her cries were drowned in the much louder sounds of Raimundo's screaming.

"I want all of you _monks_ to know that this is what happens when you fuck with me," Wuya growled, turning her back on Raimundo as he slipped in and out of consciousness, and facing the others. She had blood on her dress, her hands and her bare feet. "He brought this on himself."

**.:.:.:.**

Omi and Rex stood at the kitchen window, watching rain pour endlessly from the thundery sky in silver sheets, gazing at the faint outline of Rouge's palace in the distance where their friends where being held.

"You know what we've got to do now, don't you?" Rex said. Omi said nothing; he continued to stare out into the dark day. "We've got to get the Sleeping Star back and wake up Hannibal Bean." Now Omi did look at Rex and he didn't look very hopeful.

"But how will we do that? We cannot fight them," Omi said.

"We've got to do something. Hannibal will be able to help because he'll want revenge on Rouge for putting him to sleep anyway. All we've got to do is find that one Shen Gong Wu," Rex said. Omi had turned his attention back to the rain-splashed window.

"We still need a plan this time," he said. "Or we could get captured as well and then what will happen?"

"We don't necessarily need a plan," Rex said, running his fingers through his hair. "Just...a distraction. A good one." Omi's face suddenly brightened.

"I will pretend to be trying to rescue my friends so they will come after me, then you go in and look for the Shen Gong Wu," Omi said.

"Sorted," Rex smiled. They both stood looking out of the kitchen window again for a few more minutes and then Omi pulled the Crouching Cougar out of his robes and they silently left the Temple, stepping out into the pouring rain where they were soaked almost instantly.

"Crouching Cougar!" Omi said. The small Shen Gong Wu grew and they climbed inside. Not a single word was spoken as they raced towards the palace, knowing they would arrive a lot sooner than they wanted, secretly knowing their plan would never work and they could be riding to their own deaths.

**.:.:.:.**

They climbed out of the Cougar just as silently as they had climbed in and stood looking at the palace, feeling the rain pounding on their heads and soaking into their clothes. Then Rex placed one, steady hand on Omi's shoulder and smiled at him encouragingly. Omi smiled back, forgetting- not for the first time- that if they ever got through this, he and Rex would probably end up as enemies. Omi pushed the heavy wooden door opena nd stepped inside. Rex sat down on the grounnd beside the door waiting for Omi to catch Wuya and Rouge's attention before he went inside himself. He sat there, shivering in the rain, hugging his knees for ten minutes then got to his feet. He followed Omi inside.

**.:.:.:.**

Omi _was_ looking for his friends of course, so he'd know where to find them when he was able to rescue them. And he did find them, but not the way he'd hoped. He had opened one of the doors on the side of the staircase and found more stairs leasding down into near darkness. He had descended these stairs and was wandering down a narrow corridor. The only sounds were his footsteps, his breathing and the pounding of his frantic, nervous heart. It felt like the corridor would go on forever. His eyes were just beginning to adjust to the gloom when he was suddenly blinded by bright green light. At that moment, he finally knew what it felt like to be a hedgehog caught in a car's headlights. He was frozen to the spot and he knew he had just walked into Wuya. then the light dimmed slightly and he could see her properly, amid all the coloured dots floating in front of his occured to him then that if Wuya wa shere his friends must be close, but the corridor was too narrow to slip past her. The green light seemed to be seeming from the very walls and it hung around them like strange mist.

"Hello Omi," Wuya said pleasantly. "What a lovely surprise."

"I demand that you release my friends this instant!" Omi said, gathering what remained of his courage as his vision came into clear focus. He noticed the splashes of drying blood on Wuya's dress and felt his own blood run cold.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Wuya said. "But you can join them if you like." More green light balled in the palm of her hand, but Omi was ready. He threw himself flat on his stomach on the cold floor just as the dangerous light swooped over his head and hit the wall, making part of it crumble away. He grabbed Wuya by the ankles and pulled so she fell over backwards, shrieking. He trieds to flip over her but she seized him by the leg in midair and pulled him back down. He hit his head on the hard floor and saw stars. This time the ball of harmful green light struck him in the stomach, making him cringe in pain and vomit. Another one struck his left hand and he screamed. Blood was flowing from a long, deep gash on the back of his hand. A third ball of light hit him squarely in the chest as he tried to sit up, knocking him over again, screaming in pain. The sound of it in this tiny corridor was deafening but the pain was unbearable. He got to his feet and staggered blingdly into the wall as more green light missed him by inches and pulled more rocky crumbs free from the wall. It occured to him that if this tunnel collapsed he and Wuya and quite possibly all of his friends would be crushed. But he couldn't worry about that now. Biting back the pain, he turned to face Wuya.

"Tsunami Strike, water!" he called. Water gushed from his palms and formed a huge ball that nearly reached the ceiling. Then he threw it at Wuya and the force of it was strong enough to knock her several feet backwards. Omi turned and ran down the corridor, thankful enough that although his flip over Wuya had failed, he had still landed on the other side of her.

At the end of the corridor was a dead end. Omi stared at it in horror. How could this be? He had been so sure this was where his friends were being held and why would there be such a pointless corridor? But here it was. A blank wall at the end of a long, narrow, underground passageway. He heard Wuya's footsteps behind him. Then he heard her chuclking lightly.

"Confused, Omi? Looks like your tiger instincts failed you this time," Wuya said. Her red hair was hanging limply, some of it sticking to her cheeks and falling into her eyes. The hem of her black dress was dripping puddles of cold water on the floor. Omi took several steps backwards and hit the wall. He was trapped. He took on a fighting stance, ready to attack the moment Wuya made her move, but she was too quick. The final ball of green light hit him on the head he blacked out.

**.:.:.:.**

"Leave now Rex, do you really want me to have to bare the guilt of killing my own baby brother?" Rouge said. Rex stood before him, ready to fight.

"Not without that Wu," Rex said.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to do it Rex. I don't want to but I will," Rouge said, his smile suggesting that maybe he _did_ want to.

"It's what you deserve for going over to the Xiaolin side."

"I haven't gone over to the Xiaolin side. We both just want you and the old hag gone," Rex spat.

"Really, Rex? Is that really what's happening here? Can you honestly tell me you haven't made friends with at least one of them?" Rouge asked. Rex said nothing. "You and Omi seemed pretty tight," Rouge laughed. Rex lunged at Rouge but Rouge was ready and he side stepped it easily. Rex skidded to a halt and turned to face his older brother again.

"Too easy," Rouge grinned. Rex went for him again and this time caught Rouge off guard. His fist connected with Rouge's face and knocked him backwards, mashing his lips against his teeth. Rouge was on his feet again in an instant, blood oozing from his lips and dripping down his chin. He threw a fistful of black light at Rex.

"Can you call that light?" Rex had time to think before it hit him in the chest and knocked him backwards into the wall. He slammed his head against the stone and his vision momentarily blurred. He felt the back of his head and his fingers came away with blood on the tips. He ran at Rouge and aimed a punch but Rouge caught his fist and pushed him away again.

"I'm not fucking losing to you again!" Rex cried.

"I can't help it if I just...better than you," Rouge replied in a mock-modest voice. He punched Rex in the side of the head then kicked him in the stomach, sending him reeling. Rex vomited from the force of the kick. While he was doubled up, Rouge aimed a kick at his head and knocked him sprawling to the floor.

"There's a reason I'm stronger than you, Rex," Rouge said.

"Yeah, because you got all the training because you were mam's fucking favourite!" Rex screaming angrilly, forcing himself to get to his feet again, rubbing his aching, bleeding head as his eyes watered with pain.

"Exactly," Rouge said brightly. "And you got fuck all because you couldn't do anything right." Rex swung out his leg and knocked Rouge to to floor. Rouge let out a yell of surprise.

"I did that right," Rex said, mimicking Rouge's brightness.

"You got fucking lucky," Rouge said, standing up. At that moment, Wuya rushed into the room. She was soaking wet but otherwise she seemed unharmed.

"I got Omi, Rouge! We've got them all!" she cried triumphantly. Rex started at her in horror and while his attention was elsewhere, Rouge beat him to the floor again.

"That's excellent!" he exclaimed. He flung his arms around Wuya and lifted her off her feet, spun around in a full circled then placed her on her feet again, planting a kiss on her lips. Rex struggled to his feet. He watched Rouge and Wuya's nauseating display of affection then slipped silently from the room. He emerged in the large entrance hall and looked around, rubbing his aching head again. He saw a open door by the staircase and small drops of water leading from it to the room he had just left. He went to that door then hurried down the staircase and onto the dark. When he reached the blank wall he ran his fingers through his hair, cringing as his fingers brushed the wound. then he suddenly beamed.

"Oh, Rouge," Rex laughed. "Rouge, Rouge, Rouge. I know you far too well." He placed his blood smeared fingers on the rocky wall and ran them lightly over the bumpy surface. The wall glowed bright green and then the shape of a door appeared in the rock. Rex laughed again and pushed it open.

The smell of blood hit his nostrils almost immediatley and his eyes watered. He ventured into the dark room and the door swung shut behind him, making the darkness almost complete.

"Hello?" he said.

"Rex?" said a voice to his left, so close it made him jump with shock. "Is that you?"

"Clay?" Rex asked back. His eyes were beginning to adjust and he could see the faint outline of Clay Bailey, chained to the wall.

"Did they get you too?" Clay asked.

"Don't be daft," Rex laughed. "I found this place myself. I didn't find the Sleeping Star though." His eyes were almost fully adjusted now and he could see Clay properly. Next to Clay was Omi, semi-conscious with his feet barely touching the floor. Master Fung was beside Clay, that same old ever-calm expression on his face. Dojo lay curled up in a little cage and right at the back of the small room, Raimundo was slumped on the floor, his ankles chained together, his arms held above his head and a belt strapped around his neck, tied to the wall. Every inch of his body was covered with fresh blood, dried blood and dirt and he his eyes seemed unfocused. Kimiko was kneeling beside him, stroking his lank, brown hair.

"You do know how to get out again, don't you partner?" Clay asked uncertainly.

"'Course. It should be just like a normal door from this side," Rex shurgged. He pushed the door and it opened easily. He smiled. That was when he noticed something on the floor and stooped to pick it up.

"You're bleeding," Kimiko said. Her voice was flat, untrusting.

"Yeah I know. Wouldn't have gotten in here if it wasn't," Rex said. "But now I've got to get you out of here." He went to Clay and began inspecting the shackles that held him to the wall. The door burst open with such force it hit the wall next to it and bounced back. Rouge caught it and pushed itn open again and he wand Wuya stepped into the chamber. He clicked his fingers and the walls flared with a eerie green light, like the one Wuya had produced in the corridor. Rex turned to face his brother again. The blood on Rouge's chin was drying to a crust and it looked painful for him to talk, but he did it anyway.

"How did you get in here?" Rouge asked. In answer, Rex brushed his wounded head again. The flow of blood had slowed to a steady trickle and the dark hair surrounding the wound was clumping together with drying blood. He showed Rouge his blood fingers.

"I know you too well," Rex grinned. Rouge scowled. Behind Rex, Raimundo coughed and the sound bounced off the walls, making everyone jump. Kimiko turned her attention back to him and brushed hair out of his dazed eyes. Wuya laughed softly.

"Do you think you're fucking funny?" Kimiko screamed suddenly, glaring at Wuya. She was on her feet in a rush and sprinting for Wuya. Rex threw out his heavilly tattooes arms and caught her before she reached Wuya.

"Get off me!" Kimiko screeched, beating Rex's arms with her fists, still trying to get at Wuya. "I'll fucking kill you, you fucking _bitch_!"

"She'll more than likely kill you if you go at her head on," Rex said calmly, unphased by the beating his arms were taking. Kimiko struggled for a few more moments and she stopped and burst into tears instead.

"What have you fucking done to him?" she sobbed.

"He got what he deserved," Wuya said coldly, her eyes on Raimundo. Rex took several steps backwards, towards Raimundo, never turning his back on Rouge and Wuya. He placed Kimiko back down beside the dragon of wind and she silently kneeled down beside him again, tears still trickled down her cheeks.

"Say, Rouge," Rex said, suddenly struck by inspiration. "Fancy a Showdown?" Rouge looked at Rex, one eyebrow raised.

"Well you don't_ have _to be fighting over a Shen Gong Wu to challenge someone do you?" Rex said, shrugging. "My Orb of Tornami," Rex said, pulling the orb from his pocket. "Against your Shroud of Shadows. First to fall loses. Winner gets the Sleeping Star and the rest of the Shen Gong Wu you stole." Rouge looked at Rex for a moment then growled with impatience and annoyance.

"Fine!" he spat. Rex smiled. There was a flash of bright light and the floor began to crack and break up. The parts of the floor that help the prisoners drifted off to the side, leaving a jagged circle in the middle. Then the circle broke up as well and drifted apart, each piece within jumping distance of the others. Over the side there was nothing but darkness.

Omi had stirred slightly due to the changed in the surroudings but Raimundo continued to stare blankly ahead of him, his eyes like glassy, green marbles.

Rex and Rouge glared into each other's idetical coloured eyes with pure loathing.

"Gong Yi Tempai!"

Ignoring his Shen Gong Wu for the time being, Rex lunged for Rouge. His fist connected with Rouge's face. Rouge fall to the ground, his left leg inches away from the drop off at the edge of the piece of rock he was on. He was on his feet instantly and he balled his hands into fists, rage coursing through him like electricity. Rex was watching Rouge carefully, trying to prepare himself for what Rouge might do next. And then Rouge smiled, smugly. He disappeared into thin air without the aid of the Shroud. Rex edged sideways, nervously, his heart pounding in his ears and then something invisible but _very_ solid flew out of nowhere and connected with Rex's stomach. He doubled up, winded and coughing and recieved another blow to the head which knocked him to the ground. Clay groaned from the sidelines. Rex got on his hands and knees and spat onto the rock. Then he disappeared too.

"Oh great, we can't see a thing!" Kimiko groaned. "I don't even know what's happening to begin with!"

"Rex is helping us fight Rouge and Wuya so he can take over the world instead," Clay said. "He's quite nice though."

"Right," Kimiko said.

"He'll never do it," Wuya said, rolling her eyes. There was a yell and a thud from the circle. Rex reappeared, hanging over the edge supported only by the edge of the rock where his hands were desperately trying to pull the rest of his weight back up.

"I told you," Wuya said. Kimiko groaned. Raimundo stared at the Showdown without actually seeing it. Omi was fully awake now.

Rouge reappeared above Rex. He smiled cruelly down at him. He placed one booted toe on Rex's right hand and applied pressure. Rex's hand slipped.

"We're screwed," Kimiko said. She looked at Raimundo and sighed. His hair had fallen into his eyes again, but he remained motionless. The only life he had shown since Wuya last left the chamber was that single cough which brought up tiny flecks of spit and blood. She felt another wave of anger flow over her. She looked back at Rex, hanging off the edge of the rock, moments away from losing and probably being captured himself. Then her eyes shifted to Wuya whose full attention seemed to be on the Showdown and then to the door to the right of Wuya. She looked back at Raimundo's blank eyes and kisses his bloody cheek. She got to her feet.

Rex tried to fly. His left hand hovered inches above the rock for a second and then a powerful force seemed to rach up from the darkness and seize him and pull him back down. He caught hold of the ledge again. He fumbled in his pocket with his right hand, his left hand already starting to slip. He produced the Orb.

"Orb of Tornami!" he called. The jet of water hit Rouge in the chest and knocked him backwards. With a massive effort, Rex hauled himself back up onto the platform.

"How did you get my Orb?" Omi asked, stunned.

"It was on the floor," Rex said, not taking his eyes of Rouge. Rouge was on his feet again.

"You're not going to win, Rex," Rouge said. His everlasting smile had actually transformed into an everlasting scowl that changed his face completely and made him look ten years older.

"Never hurt anyone to try," Rex replied sweetly, his smile firmly in place, though it never reached his eyes and he looked at Rouge with nothing but undescribable hatred.

"Orb of Tornami!" he called. The water knocked Rouge backwards again. He stumbled over one of the gaps between the parts of rocks and almost fell but he was quick and he leaped backwards, landing neatly on the next peice of rocky floor. Rex became invisible. Rouge stood where he was for a few moments and then whirled around and hit something solid behind him, pushing it backwards towards the edge. The Orb of Tornami appeared out of nowhere and fell the the ground, rolling away. Rouge gave the air a hard shove and Rex reappeared, once again hanging over the edge, this time, defenceless.

"How did you know where I was?" Rex panted, trying to pull himself up and feeling the pull of that eerie force, trying to drag him down into the darkness. His hands were slipped and part of the rocky edge crumbled away, falling onto his upturned face and down into the seemingly bottomless darkness. Rouge placed his foot on Rex's hand again. That hand fell.

"Bye bye Rex," Rouge said, his smile returning. He placed his foot on Rex's other hand and crushed his finger. When he removed his foot, Rex fell and was swallowed by darkness. There was another flaash and the room returned to normal. Rex seemed to fall from the ceiling and landed on the hard, dirty floor. He cringed on the impact but recovered quickly and got to his feet, panting and wiping blood from his face with his arm.

"I win again," Rouge smiled. He was turning to leave when Wuya spoke.

"Rouge," she said urgently. "Where's Kimiko?" Rouge turned back around and his eyes scanned the room. Kimiko was gone. He let of a growl of fury.

**I hope you enjoyed it and it was worth the wait. Please, please, **_**please**_** review!**


	14. Tohomiko's Escape

**We're almost done I think. I really hope you're enjoying it! This is my new favourite chapter, but I got too caught up in writing it to pay attention to typos and that so I'm really sorry about them. I hope you enjoy it anyways.**

**Chapter 14**

**Tohomiko's Escape**

**Kimiko's POV**

_No one even noticed when I had gotten to my feet. Every eye in the room was focused on Rouge and Rex, breaths being held as Rex dangled over the edge of the floating rock. Even Raimundo's, although I doubt he knows what's going on. Wuya was going to pay for what she had done to him. I didn't what would happen to me in the process but I'd worry about that afterwards._

_I slipped around the side of the room, passing my friends, chained to the wall, rather than Wuya. They were so focused on the Showdown I don't even think any of them noticed me passing right in front of their faces. That suited me just fine though, if they noticed me they might draw more attention to me. _

_I reched the door and chanced a quick sideays glance at Wuya. The only thing that mattered to her right now was her husband winning this Showdown. I took a breath and placed my hand on the door that almost completely blended in with the walls. I half expected it not to open, was praparing myself for it, but it swung open eaily. I silently slipped threw, and closed it as quietly as possible behind me. I took several tentative steps backwards then turned and ran full out down the dark corridor. The sound of my footfalls ricocheted off the walls but I didn't care. If they came after me now the most important thing was to put as much distance between them and myself as possible._

_I hurried up the stairs and through the open door to the cold entrance hallway. A panther sat boldly at the foot of the stairs to my left and I didn't need to know what had happened to know that this was Chase Young. Call in instinct. The cat turned it's yellow lamp-like eyes on me and bared it fangs. I raised my hands to show him I was weaponless, as if the cat were a figure of authority and I was a criminal._

_"It's alright, Chase," I whispered. The cat snarled. "Chase Young?" I said, hoping the name would get through to it. Afterall, when Chase had turned Omi into a cat, Omi still remembered who he was. Chase looked at me but didn't move. I took a few steps closer to him and he still didn't move._

_"I'm going to free you Chase," I said softly. "Not because I like you, but because we _need_ you. You're the only one who's ever beaten Rouge LeBay." I reached out, my arm shaking and feeling weak, and gentley stroked the panther. He made a noise deep down in his throat that sounded oddly like a pur._

_"You remember, don't you?" I smiled. "Well I'm going to help you so that you can help us, and then we'll be equal." I didn't want to waste anymore time. I turned and ran from the palace._

_Although it was dark outside- not to mention pouring with rain- the light in comparison with the light inside the palace was overwhelmingly bright and it stung my eyes. I breathed in deeply, smelling the rain and the damp grass and a feeling of exhileration ran through my like a current. It was the feeling of being free._

_The Crouching Cougar that Omi and Rex had arrived on was still standing in the rain. I climbed on and raced off as fast as I could._

**End Kimiko's POV**

**.:.:.:.**

Rouge's anger terrified even his own wife as he stormed back through the long corridor, roaring and cursing at the air. He had locked everyone, including Rex, in that chamber so now the door couldn't be opened from the inside. How could he be so foolish as to not tie the little bitch up? He suddenly rounded on Wuya.

"I was in a Showdown! You should have been watching her!" he yelled. Wuya recoiled, frightened. He continued on his way up the corridor and ascended the stairs. She followed him, making sure to stay several steps behind him.

Chase was still sat at the foot of them stairs when Rouge and Wuya emerged from the passage stairway and he watched Rouge with obediant yellow eyes. Rouge walked straight past him. Wuya bent over, her hands on her knees, and looked into Chase's panther eyes.

"Did you see her go out?" she asked quietly. "You did, didn't you? And you let her. You're still in there, aren't you Chase?" The cat just looked back at her, long, black tail flopping lazily from side to side, unphased by Rouge's anger and the deadly serious tone on Wuya's voice.

"You're still acting like Chase," Wuya said. She rolled her eyes then followed Rouge out into the rain. He was stood in front of the wooden doors staring off into the distance.

"She might still be in the palace," Wuya said. Rouge shook his head.

"Rex and Omi came on the Croughing Cougar. Neither of them had it with them and it's not here. Kimiko's took it," Rouge said. He was gazing off in the direction of the Temple. "She'll come back though." He turned and went back into the palace. Wuya followed him without a word.

**.:.:.:.**

Rex ran his hand over the door, exasperatedly. He had been locked up with the rest of the prisoners by his own brother. Adrenaline had blocked out most of his feelings but now he was calming down, his head was beginning to throb dully. He had tried loosening the chains on all of the warriors but none of them budged so instead he was trying to wrench the padlock off Dojo's tiny cage. He wasn't having much look.

"Don't worry about it, I'll live," Dojo said from inside the cage.

"Have you tried supersizing?" Rex asked.

"Of course I have!" Dojo said, sounding insulted. "I nearly suffocated."

"You can teleport can't you? Like Rouge can," Omi said.

"He'll have thought of that. There'll be something here that stops me from doing it," Rex said. He was beginning to lose his temper on the padlock and began beating it with his fist.

"Hey! You've no idea how loud that is in here!" Dojo complained. Rex turned his anger onto the wall instead and planted his fist into it's rocky surface giving out a yell of pain.

"Did that help?" Clay asked. Rex was looking down at his bleeding knuckles as if he had never seen blood before.

"There's got to be a way out of here," Rex said, not looking up.

"But you've tried everything possible," Omi sighed.

"Kimiko will come back," Clay said.

"Yeah she will. She wouldn't leave him," Rex said. He looked at Raimundo. Raimundo stared blankly at the wall.

"What's wrong with him?" Clay asked. Rex shrugged.

"I fear Raimundo may be catatonic," Master Fing said, speaking up for the first time.

"Well, that's not good," Clay said sadly.

"Kimiko will return," Omi said.

"As long as they don't catch her before she gets here," Rex said quietly. There was silence.

**.:.:.:.**

**Kimiko's POV**

_I'd been walking for hours. My feet hurt but I barely noticed. I couldn't get the image of Raimundo, all chained up and staring blankly, almost lifeless, at nothing, out of my head. I was determined to get him- and the rest of my friends- out of there before one of them was actually killed. _

_I approached the house I'd been asking around for and looked upat it. It was just an ordinary house in an ordinary street but this had to be the place- there was a cat stalking through the long grass in the garden and two more cats perched on the windowsill. I reached up, hesitated, then knocked on the door. There were butterflies in my stomach, making me feel sick, but they'd been there ever since I realised I could escape without anyone noticing me._

_There was silence for a few minutes and I was starting to think no one was in, or maybe I _had_ got the wrong house, then I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Moments later the door was opened and I was looking at a girl a head taller than me. She had green eyes and her short blonde hair was hanging losely to her shoulders. She was wearing pink pajamers with a picture of a fluffly, white cat on the top. Katnappe. Although, without her costume, she's just plain old Ashley isn't she?_

_"What do you want?" she snapped. "It's the middle of the night."_

_"I know but it's important!" I said, praying she wasn't going to either slam the door in my face or start a fight. I didn't have time, I knew Rouge and Wuya would find me eventually._

_"Do you remember when Raimundo locked Wuya in that puzzlebox and then you let her out?"_

_"Yes," she said shortly._

_"What did you do with the box? Have you still got it?" I asked._

_"I might do," she said._

_"Can you have a look?" I said desperately._

_"What's in it for me?" she asked. She rested one hand on the door frame and looked at me intently. I thought furiously._

_"I'll buy you a new house. A better house," I said._

_"Have you got that money?" she asked, raising an eyebrow._

_"Yeah. Well, I'll ask my..." I trailed off, thinking of my dad for the first time since I was released from the Possession Necklace and thrown into the chamber. I looked at my feet. His money would be mine now, I knew, but I wasn't sure if I could bring myself to spend it on _Katnappe._ But it would help us. It might even save the world. It might save Raimundo. I looked back into Katnappe's eyes and nodded._

_"Yeah, I do," I said. She grinned, revealing fanglike teeth. She stepped aside to let me into the house._

**End Kimiko's POV**

**.:.:.:.**

Rex sat crosslegged on the floor beside Raimundo's lifeless body. He had tried everything he could think of to coax Raimundo out of his trance and had resorted to clicking his fingers in front of Raimundo's face, still with no success.

"What has she actually done to him?" Dojo's voice asked from inside the cage.

"He's got a _lot_ of quite deep cuts," Rex replied. "He must have lost so much blood... I don't anything's broken...I hope nothing's broken anyway. But I've been tortured by Heyling magic once, the pain is un_believable_ and it was only for a couple of minutes. He's had for how fucking long? Wuya really goes at it doesn't she? And it's quite a few times a day. And he's been here for over a week... no wonder he's like this. He's lucky to be alive."

"We will be able to move him once we're all unchained, won't we?" Clay asked uncertainly.

"It could be really risky," Rex replied. "And even if he survives a trip back to the Temple or to a hospital he might stay in this state for god knows long. Maybe he'll never come out of it. And if he does come out of it, he might not even be able to walk."

"He could be paralysed?" Omi asked. Rex nodded.

"The chances of him being able to finish his training to become a Xiaolin Dragon if by some miracle of god he survives this are a million to one," Rex said, now shaking his head. He felt something deep down, but for now he refused to believe it was pity for this poor boy. He _couldn't_ pity a Xiaolin warrior. When this was all over, they would be enemies. It was bad enough he was already having to tell himself he couldn't make friends with any of them.

"We will give Raimundo all the help we can get for him to help him recover," Master Fung said.

"Yes," Omi agreed. "We cannot give up on him."

"Suppose..." Clay begain. He felt everyone's eyes sting him and was on the verge of forgetting what he was about to say, but he knew the idea of it would eat him up if he didn't. "Suppose Raimundo doesn't survive this...suppose he dies...what do you think will happen? we need Raimundo whether any of us will admit it or not...and if we lose him...we might lose Kimiko too."

Omi looked sadly at Raimundo, secretly sure they had already lost them both.

**.:.:.:.**

**Kimiko's POV**

_Katnappe's house stank of cats. That's all I can say to be honest. There were cats _everywhere_. I was starting to think it was all just a crazy dream or hallucination. There were five or six cats prowling around the living room that she led me into and there were two photographs of cats and one painting of a cat hung on the living room wall. It was insane._

_"Wait here," Katnappe said. "If you so anything, or steal anything, I will kill you, right?" Then she left the room. I felt something brush my ankles and I looked down to see a fluffy white cat rubbing its head against me. It looked up at me hopefully, its tail flicking back and forth, and I gave it a gentle push with my foot. It looked at me disdainfully and stalked off, its tail held up high. I watched it go without a single trace of guilt. I never was a cat person._

_It felt like I was standing in Katnappe's cat-ruled living room for hours and I was starting to think she had just forgotten about me and gone back to bed when she re-entered the room. A small puzzlebox was held in her hands and my heart skipped a beat._

_"This what you're after?" she asked._

_"Yes!" I said, a tiny spark of hope flickering in my heart. I reached out to take it but Katnappe pulled away._

_"If you go back on our deal, I'll let Wuya out again," Katnappe threatened._

_"Okay, just give me it!" I said. She raised an eyebrow. "Please!" I said. Finally, she held it out and it took it gentley from her hands and looked down at it. It felt oddly cold in my hands. It was shut and my heart sank when I remembered how it was opened last time._

"The box will open when the person who need to open it most opens it,"_ Omi had said. The only person who could open was Raimundo and the chances of him doing that now were slim._

_"Is there a problem?" Katnappe asked. I jumped slightly; I'd almost forgotten she was there. I looked up and smiled._

_"No, I'm good," I said. And then she said something that truely shocked me._

_"You look tired," she said. There was true concern in her voice. I just looked at her and then it was too hard to look her in the eyes so I dropped my gave to her pajama clad knees._

_"You don't think you can do it, do you?" she said. I felt tears prick my eyes and I fought desperately to keep them at bay but my efforts were in vain and the tears overflowwed and spilled down my cheeks._

_"They've got Master Fung, Omi, Clay and Dojo and Wuya's done something to Rai!" I sobbed. I think I startled Katnappe because she took a single step backwards. "He's alive but he's not moving or anything and he's siffered so much! I think if I don't get him some medical help soon he'll die! And Rouge's brother was trying to help us and now he's been caught and Chase has been turned into a fucking panther and Hannibal Bean's been sent to sleep with the Sleeping Star which we don't have!" Tears tumbled down my cheeks in a rapid waterfall and Katnappe stood motionless, looking at me._

_"I just want my daddy!" I cried. The tears came harder than ever. I could see them hitting the top of the puzzlebox in my hands and then splashing off like the rain hitting the rooftops outside. Katnappe left the room but I barely noticed. I stood where I was, releasing the tears that had built up for so long but were never allowed to fall. Then Katnappe came back and she prised the puzzlebox from my hands and forced a cool glass of water into them instead. I was so surprised by her act of kindness that I actually stopped crying for a moment. Not for long though. I drank the water and sobbed my thanks as she took the glass of me. I wiped my streaming eyes on my sleeve and took the puzzlebox back. Katnappe went to put the glass back in the kitchen and I fled the house before she returned._

**End Kimiko's POV**

**.:.:.:.**

While Kimiko had been wandering the dark, rain drenched streets searching for Katnappe's house, Rouge was taking his anger out on a defenceless man who had the misfortune to be wandering the streets late that night. The damage had been numerous cuts, three broken fingers, a broken wrist, a leg amputation, two broken ribs and a punctured lung until the man finally choked to death. But Rouge was still angry. How could he have let the little bitch escape? Had it been planned? Was the real reason for Rex's Showdown? Whatever it was, he would find her and she would pay.

Wuya watched Rouge, a little scared, as he tossed the body of the man back out into the rain. His rage hadn't subsided in the slightest. Rouge hardly ever got angry, but when he did, you had to stay out of his way. Wuya knew that well enough, especially after what he had done to Rex when she and Rex first got together. Although, at the time, she had been more flattered than frightened. He had been angry because _he_ liked her but his little brother was the one she had chosen. In the space of fifteen minutes, he had beaten Rex so badly, Rex had almost died. That was when she first started to realise that Rex was useless. His first attempts to fight back were feeble and then he ceased fighting altogether after five minutes because he was too weak and too injured.

She and Rouge had actually got together while she was still with Rex and when Rex found out he and Rouge had gone at each other like stags fighting over a doe. Of course, Rex came of worse then as well and that was the official end of her relationship with him. She and Rouge were together for twenty years before they became husband and wife and at first she wasn't sure whether they were rushing it or not but she didn't care. Rouge had stuck by her until the end. Until that fight with Dashi, Chase and Guan. That had been the last time she saw Rouge until he showed up in the temple grounds not long ago. And his years of imprisonment as one of Chase's wild cats hadn't changed him in the slightest.

Rouge was now throwing balls of dangerous green light at the rock walls, breaking chunks of it, and it one place, he had torn a whole completely in the side of the palace, letting in small showers of rain. The wall had groaned slightly and Wuya was sure the whole thing was going to collapse but it didn't. The walls were thick and strong. Wuya knew that if they caught Kimiko, it'd be her last day on Earth. The thought made her grin as more rock crumbled from the wall and the air around her flashed green.

**.:.:.:.**

**Kimiko's POV**

_I was back at the palace. I hid the Crouching Cougar in my pocket, hoping it not being parked outside the palace, screaming at the world that I was inside, would buy me more time. I could hear Rouge nearby, screaming in fury and every now and again the ceiling above me shook and rock dust fell to the floor, some of it landing in my hair and once, going in my eye, stinging it. My eyes were already swollen and sore from so much crying, but I fought the tears back now, simpley because I knew how loud the sound of my crying in this palace would be._

_Chase Young was still sat at the foot of the stairs and I was fairly sure that his ears pricked and his tail flicked slightly when I entered, almost as if he was happy to see me. I knew he could still remember if I was with him, but if Rouge gave him an order he had to follow it whether he wanted to or not. I prayed Rouge wouldn't turn up now._

_"Chase?" I whispered. I approached the cat and scratched it behind the ears. "Do you know where Rouge has hidden the stolen Shen Gong Wu?" The cat just looked at me for a moment and then it got to it's feet and padded lightly up the stairs. I looked around nervously. The sound of Rouge taking his anger out on the walls was coming from the door on my right. I quickly and quietly followed Chase up the stairs. The staircase was longer than I had expected and the chill in the air seemed to deepen the higher I climbed. I finally reached the top and looked around. For a second I thought Chase had disappeared, but then I saw the end of his tail flick round a corner to my left and I hurried after him. He stopped halfway down the corridor at a wooden door and scratched it with his right paw. I tried the handle but the door was locked. I looked down at the panther. The panther looked back up at me. There was nothing for it. _

_"Judellet Flip, fire!" I said. I applied a strong kick to the door. Flames burst around the area where my foot hit the door and spread all over its surface and it crashed to the floor. I held out my hands and the fire rushed into them, vanishing. I knew Rouge and Wuya would have heard that, even with the racket Rouge was making. And I was right. I heard two sets of footsteps racing across the entrance hall floor towards tha stairs._

_Chase padded into the room. It was tiny, no bigger than a closet and there was nothing in it. Chase pawed at the blank wall on the left._

_"Are they hidden?" I asked the cat. It's tail flicked once to the right and I took that as a yes. "Do I have to open it with blood like Rec did in the chamber?" The tail flicked again. Rouge and Wuya had nearly reached the top of the stairs. I held the puzzleboxin my left hand and raised the thumb of my right hand to my mouth and bit down, hard. I winced at the pain but clamped down harder until I felt the skin break and tasted the metallic tang of blood. I trickled slowly down my thumb but it wasn't bleeding too much. I ran my thumb across the surface of the rock wall and it stung even more but I ignored it. The outline of a small door, more like a cupboard door or a safe than anything else, glowed green. I pressed down on it and it swung open. Inside were all the Shen Gong Wu Rouge had stolen, including the Possession Necklace, the Sun Chi Lantern and the Sleeping Star. I pulled the Sun Chi Lantern from it's place on the dusty shelf and crouhed down in front of Chase._

_"Put your paw on it," I said. "Quick before he gets here or he'll stop you!" The panther raised it's paw and placed it on the Sun Chi Lantern just as Rouge and Wuya entered the room. Rouge screamed, outraged._

_A blue light glowed around Chase. He reared up onto his hind legs as his black fur retreated into human skin. His snout shortened and became a human mouth and nose and the fur on his head elonginated until it resembled Chase's hair. His paws became hands and feet. The glow subsided and Chase Young stood before me, flexing his fingers and wincing as if they were stiff._

_"Thank you, Kimiko," he said. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear Chase Young's voice. Then Chase looked at Rouge. I was sure I saw a flicker of fear dart across Rouge's dark eyes, but it was so quick I could have imagined it._

_"As for you, Rouge LeBay," Chase raised his hand, ready to click his fingers and I knew he was going to turn Rouge back into a cat, but Rouge seized one side of the Sun Chi Lantern that was still in my hands and it glowed yellow._

_"Kimiko, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," he said. Chase couldn't dishonour a Showdown challenge and he lowered his hand. I knew full well that if I lost the Sun Chi Lantern to Rouge he would turn Chase back into a panther and he would probably kill me. I passed the puzzlebox to Chase just as Wuya noticed it the panic in her eyes was definite._

_"No Shen Gong Wu, just martial arts skills," Rouge said. "Winner gets the Sun Chi Latern."_

_"And all the other Shen Gong Wu you stole," I said. "And I win, you free all my friends and Rex." Rouge bared his teeth angrilly, but nodded._

_The floor shook as the four walls drew back, widening the room. A thick black ring formed around us. A chunk of rock where Chase and Wuya were each standing burst from the ground and raised them into the air so they could see into the ring._

_My panic was almost overwhelming as I glared into Rouge's dark eyes and saw nothing but pure fury. My certainty that he was going to kill me didn't change but I started to realise that he would make me suffer a lot first. Like what Wuya had done to Rai. Then an image of Rai, chained up, bleeding and staring unseeingly at the wall ahead of him, flashed across my mind and my panic was momentarily overcome by fury that might just match Rouge's._

_"Gong Yi Tempai!" we screamed. Rouge was quick. He darted forward and kicked me in the stomach. I wasn't ready, therefore, I didn't have time to block the attack, and I went sprawling on my back, my stomach heaving dryly. I got shakily to my feet and received a blow to the head which knocked me straight back down again. I suddenly felt far too weak and far too tired. I hadn't slept or eaten in days and I was in no condition to fight. I had been running on adrenaline up until now but it seemed that adrenaline was running low now, at the most inconvenient time. A ball of ominous black mist hit the floor beside me powerful enough to leave a small crater and I had time ti imagine what would have happened of it had hit my head when a second one struck my arm. I let out an earpiercing scream as pain ran up my arm, through my chest and into my head. Blood blossomed on my sleeve and I wasn't sure I wanted to see what damage had been done. I knew if I stayed on the floor any longer I'd lose for sure. That thought got me to my feet. My left arm stung fiercely and it stung even more when I moved it but I was relieved to find that it it did actually move, nevermind how much it hurt._

_I faced Rouge. He had that hideous grin plastered on his face again. It was so similar to the one Rex always wore with one major difference; Rex's seemed a lot more...friendly, whether he was evil or not._

_"Come on Kimiko, you can't give in this easily," Rouge smirked._

_"I'm not," I growled. I gritted my teeth against the pain and charged at Rouge, aiming for a flip over him so I could trip him up from behind and deliver a swift kick to the head to leave him dazed but her caught me by my forearms. I did do a flip but it didn't go as I'd intended, mostly because Rouge helped me. Heswung his own body around with such force and speed that I was lifted off my feet and slammed back down onto the ground on my back. Tears of pain welled in my eyes but I jumped to my feet before Rouge could attack again._

_"Judellet Flip, fire!" I called. Balls of flame circled around my closed fists and I spun in a full circle to gain power and threw them as hard as I could at Rouge. He dodged them easily and I groaned._

_"Come on, you can do better than that," Rouge said. "Give it your best shot."_

_I did. I went for the most basic attack there is and threw my fist into his face. It connected with his cheekbone and he fell backwards, hitting the ground with such force that his legs rebounded slightly and bounced into the air again. I'll admit, I was slightly stunned by that punch._

_"Come on Rouge, get her!" Wuya screamed from her perch above us. Her hands were balled into fists and she was dancing from one foot to the other with anticipation. Chase stood calmly, his arms folded across his chest, gazing down at the battle as if he were watching nothing more exciting than the weather report on television._

_Rouge was up instantly. And then he vanished. I groaned, looking around nervously. Something caught my in the stomach and flipped me forward so I landed on my front and this time I did vomit. I choked, trying to get my breath back whilst trying to keep from vomiting again. Rouge approached me calmly. He placed his foot underneath me and rolled me over onto my stomach._

_"You can always give up," he said. I stared down, straight into my eyes and I saw nothing in his but pure loathing. I felt like if I looked in to those dark eyes for too long I'd go insane._

_"Or you can join Pedrosa in lala land," Rouge said. Wuya laughed wickedly at that as if it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. I thought of Raimundo again. That anger. That undescribable anger. It washed over me like a cold wave and I welcomed it. _

_I rolled backwards slightly, so my legs were in the air, my knees bent and then kicked out at Rouge with all the force I could muster, like a horse kicking a man with its hind legs. Rouge let out a surprised yell and stumbled backwards, holding his stomach, then tripped over his own feet and fell to the floor. I rolled back onto my front and got on my hands and knees; it was easier to get to my feet that way. I ran to Rouge before he could get up again and kicked him in the head as hard as I could. He let out another yell. I quickly crouched down and grabbed a handful of Rouge's shoulder-length red-brown hair and yanked it up towards me so his head lifted off the floor. Then I placed my other hand on his forehead and slammed his head back down onto the floor. I jumped up and delivered yet another blow to his head._

_"Fight her!" Wuya was yelling from the side. A thin smile had spread across Chase's lips, but I paid no attention to either of them. Right now, my mind was fully focused on the image of Raimundo and I vented all my anger onto Rouge. Wuya was the one who had hurt him, but Rouge was the one who had captured him. He had used _me_ to get him. He knew Raimundo would come after me. If I won this Showdown, Raimundo had a chance of recovery. If I lost...I didn't want to think about that._

_Rouge flung out an arm, more in self defence than an attack but he caught me on the side of the leg and my knees buckled. I fell to the floor beside him. Before I knew what was happening, he was looming over me and his hands were around my throat. For now, he seemed to have forgotten he had Heyling magic. There was blood running down the side of his face and his features were contorted into an ugly picture of terrible rage._

_I flailed and then grasped his hands and tried to pry them away from my neck but they wouldn't budge. He was too strong. I couldn't breathe. The panic returned and I became certain he was going to choke me to death right here, right now. I kicked my legs wildly but they hit nothing but air and all I could see was those dreadful dark brown eyes, partly covered by his red hair. Blood trickled along his cheek and onto his nose and dripped onto my face. It was hot and it almost felt like it was burning my skin where it had landed. _

_"Fuck lala land," Rouge growled. "You're going where your pathetic fuck of a dad went! I never fucking lose!"_

_"Well...you...going...to lose...this time," I managed. My choked voice sounded foreign even to myself and it hurt my throat even more to talk. But that comment on my dad had gotten through my panic to that part of my brain that still functioned correctly. I kicked my leg out again and this time, instead of hitting air, my foot connected with Rouge's critch so hard he couldn't even scream. He rolled off me and curled up on the floor, tears streaming down his cheeks, his pale face turning red._

_"Cheap shot!" Wuya yelled angrilly. I lay where I was for a moment, choking down beautiful air and then coughing it back up again. I could already feel bruises forming on my throat. I rolled over and got on my hands and knees again, still coughing. Then I forced myself onto my feet and stumbled over to Rouge. I kicked him again in the head and then in the shoulder and then in the chest and then the head again. Then I seized his wrists and dragged him towards the edge of the circle. He was already beginning to fight back._

_"No!" Wuya cried. I kicked Rouge in the head again, hoping to knock him out but with no such luck. He was kicking out violently with his legs and his wrists were trying to rip themselves from my grip but I held on for dear life._

_"You'll...pay...for what...you've done," I coughed. Then I turned to look up at Wuya. "You both will!" Then the coughing was too strong for me to speak and resorted to simply dragging Rouge to the edge of the ring._

_"GET OFF MY BITCH!" Rouge screamed. "YOU CAN'T FUCKING WIN! I NEVER FUCKING LOSE AND I WON'T NOW! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"_

_"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU BASTARD!" I screamed. My throat burned angrilly and it felt like my lungs were being ripped open with the force of that yell but it brought my anger back. I pulled on Rouge's wrists as hard as I could so he was pulled up a bit then swung him around with strength I never would have believed I had until today._

_"Judellet Flip...FIRE!" I screamed as loud as my swollen throat would allow. With the power of my element, I raised Rouge's whole body off the ground and swung him in a full circle. Then I let go of his wrists and he flew striaght out of the ring._

_"NO!" Wuya screamed. But it was too late. I had won._

**End Kimiko's POV**

**.:.:.:.**

Rex was lying on his back on the floor, his eyes closed and one tattooed arm lay over the top of them.

"She's not coming back is she?" Clay said doubtfully. It was hard to tell how long it had been since Kimiko's escape but he knew it had been a more than a few hours. He looked sadly at his fellow warriors. Omi looked away, not wanting to meet Clay's eyes. Raimundo didn't even blink.

"Trust in your fellow monk," Master Fung said. He had barely finished speaking when the chains around their wrists, and the ones around Raimundo's ankles and the one attaching the belt around his neck to the wall glowed green and seemingly melted into nothing. Dojo's cage did the same. Omi, who had been too small for his feet to reach the floor, gave out a startled yell as he thumped down to earth. Clay looked at his wrists in wonder. Raimundo's arms flopped limply to his sides and he leaned over to the right and his head hit the floor. Healing wounds on his arms ripped open again a new cut was torn into his cheek when it hit the ground, spilling yet more blood. Omi, Clay, Master Fung and Dojo ran to him. Rex had sat up and was just looking at them in wonder.

"Raimundo? Can you hear me?" Omi asked. Raimundo did nothing.

"Raimundo, partner?" Clay said. Raimundo did nothing.

"Raimundo?" Master Fung shook Raimundo's shoulder gentley. Raimundo nothing.

"Come on kid, do _something_!" Dojo said desperately. "Blink at least!"

Raimundo did nothing. Omi and Clay looked at Master Fung for answers, but Master Fung just looked down at the motionless Xiaolin Dragon on the Wind.

**.:.:.:.**

Kimiko had run off to find the chamber with her friends inside, now all unchained inside an unlocked room. She had forgotten all about Chase and the puzzlebox she had gotten off Katnappe. Rouge was recovering already, but most of it was just because he was so angry. He screamed and punched the wall, just as his own younger brother had done, and grazed his knuckles. He forgot about everything and stormed from the palace and Rouge LeBay unleashed his fury on the world.

**If you have any sort of idea how hard I worked on this chapter, would you PLEASE be kind enough to review and tell me what you think of it. I really, really, REALLY appreciate it and reading your comments boosts my self confidence and your constructive critisism helps me further develop my writing, so please, take two minutes to give me your feedback and I will love you forever. I'll try and update soon but I've started college again now so I don't know how long it will take.**


	15. Back in the Box

**Not as long as the last chapter but I worked hard on it. I hope you like it.**

**Chapter 15**

**Back in the Box**

**Urgent News Reports**

**Britain: **_**'ROCK MONSTERS' RAMPAGE, THIRTY-SIX DEATH COUNT**_

**USA: **_**HUNDREDS KILLED IN MYSTERIOUS 'GREEN FIRE'**_

**France: **_**EXPLOSION AT THE EIFFEL TOWER, DEATH COUNT STILL RISING, MYSTERIOS MAN SPOTTED AT SCENE**_

**Japan:**_** SIX MURDERS, VICTIMS FOUND MUTILATED AND DUMPED BY SIDE OF ROAD**_

**Brazil: **_**MAN FOUND MUTILATED AND MURDERED**_

**.:.:.:.**

While Rouge LeBay was terrorising the world to vent his anger, Kimiko was racing down the narrow, dark corridor leading to the hidden chamber where her friends were. She reached the blank wall to find that, since Rouge had had no chouce but to free her friends, the door was unlocked and already visible to her. There would be no need to her to smear her own blood on the wall this time. She pulled the door open and ran inside.

"Kimiko!" Omi and Clay cried incredibly.

"What's going on?" Clay asked.

"How is he?" Kimiko asked, ignoring Clay's question and pushing past Rex so she could kneel beside Raimundo.

"No change," Dojo said, shaking his head sadly.

"Lets get him out of here," Kimiko said.

"Kimiko, what's going on," Clay said again. Kimiko began hurridly explaining what had happened since she escaped during the Showdown as she gently got Raimundo into a position where she would be able to pick him up and carry him without doing him more damage.

"And then...you left the puzzlebox _and_ the Shen Gong Wu," Omi said.

"Chase owes me now, he'll look after them," Kimiko said. "Help me." Clay was about to help Kimiko raise Raimundo off the ground when the door banged open again and Rouge entered the room, Wuya at his heels. Rouge was soaked head to foot in blood. Some of it, mainly the blood running down the side of his face and from his mouth and nose, was his own, but the warriors were fairly certain that the rest wasn't.

"You're not going anywhere," Rouge growled.

"I won. My friends go free. That was the deal," Kimiko said. She lay Raimundo's limp form back on the ground and stood protectively in front of him.

"I know that, but it doesn't mean I can capture you all again," Rouge said. "That _wasn't_ part of the deal." Wuya laughed cruelly. Chase appeared behind them, a bag no doubt containing the Shen Gong Wu in one hand, the puzzlebox in the other. He tossed the box over Rouge and Wuya's heads. Wuya made a desperate grab for it but missed it and Omi caught it neatly. He tugged on the lid fruitlessly but it wouldn't open. A grin spread across Wuya's lips.

"Who's going to open the box for you this time?" she asked. Omi looked helplessly down at Raimundo. Raimundo now stared blankly at the ceiling. If it wasn't for his rising and falling chest, he could have been dead.

"I'm going to kill you for what you did to me, bitch," Rouge said, his evil eyes on Kimiko.

"Sore loser," Kimiko smirked. She met Rouge's gaze and didn't so much as move an inch, not wanting him to sense fear. She was sure he'd attack if he did. She found herself comparing him to a dog. Behind her, Clay was now trying to wrestle the lid of the puzzlebox open. Kimiko glanced behind her to look at Raimundo and that was when Rouge attacked. He charged forward like a bull, head down, arms out. Kimiko screamed and lunged sideways. Clay dropped the puzzlebox in shock as Rouge fell on him instead. It landed beside Raimundo's outstretched, motionless, mutilated arm.

Clay was thrown backwards into the back wall. He hit it forcefully and slid to the floor, howling with pain. Rouge rounded on Kimiko again. She was backed against the wall, eyes wide with fear and locked on Rouge's. Her bruised throat was crying with agony from her scream but for now, she didn't notice. Rouge took several steps towards her when Omi flew out of nowhere. His foot hit Rouge's head and knocked him sideways. Omi landed on his feet, his arms raised in a fighting stance. Wuya grabbed the small monk by his wrists and lifted him off the floor. Omi kicked his legs helplessly. Clay ran to his rescue but rocky hands reached up from the floor and seized his ankles as they had done in the Temple grounds when they discovered Rouge's true identity what felt like a thousand years ago. More hands grabbed Master Fung and Dojo. Kimiko, Rex and Chase were the only ones left relatively unharmed and mobil. Rex was sitting on the floor where he had remained since the chains had dissolved into thin air and Chase was stood in the doorway with the bag of Shen Gong Wu, simpley watching. Wuya placed Omi on the floor where he was held down by another pair of strong, rocky hands. She and Rouge stood looking at Kimiko, identical grins on their faces. Rex was getting slowly to his feet, knowing what was coming now and trying to decide whether he should risk his own life to rescue the girl who, under different circumstances, would be his enemy, or to simpley bolt and be done with the whole thing.

Rouge and Wuya fell on Kimiko and the three of them were surrounded by flashes of green light as Kimiko was beaten and tortured, much like what Wuya had to Raimundo and much like what Rouge had done to Rex in the past. Kimiko was screaming helplessly, defencelessly. Her friends were screaming her name in horror, unable to help her. Chase just stood and watched. He had payed what he owed her by keeping the puzzlebox and the Shen Gong Wu safe.

Before Rex knew what he was doing, he was running towards Rouge and Wuya, mentally preparing himself for a fatal blow when he got there. But someone else got there first. Someone no one had noticed slowly sitting up and curling his weak, injured arm around the puzzlebox, tears dancing in his confused, tortured, green eyes. Kimiko's tortured screams had been all Raimundo needed. He had returned to this ugly world to save her life.

Golden light exploded from the open puzzlebox in his shaking hands, engulfing Wuya. She screamed. The light wrapped itself around her, lifting her from the floor and stealing her physical form as it dragged her back into its source. The lid slammed firmly shut, locking her inside. The light remained for a few moments then slowly faded away. Every eye in the room was on Raimundo except Kimiko's, who was lying, semi-conscious and bleeding, on the floor. Raimundo gazed at Rouge with a dazed expression, and yet, there seemed to be a flicker of fury dancing behind his cloudy, confused eyes. Rouge simpley looked at Raimundo and then let out a scream of anger and lunged at the Dragon of the wind to deliver a blow that would surely be his last. Then Rex dived out of seemingly nowhere and collided with Rouge in midair. Both of them went crashing to the floor. Rouge was screaming in utter outrage and all his fury was taken out on his little brother, who had never been meant for the Heylin side. Rex had decided which side he should be fighting for and took every single blow to the very end to keep Rouge from murdering the Xiaolin warriors instead.

Rouge only stopped beating his baby brother when Rex lay motionless on the floor in a spreading pool of his own blood, his eyes half closed and blank, his everlasting smile wiped from his face forever. Rouge got to his feet, staggered slightly and leaned against the wall for support, staring down at his dead sibling.

"What have you done?" Omi whispered. Rouge didn't move.

"...You killed him," Clay said. "Your own brother."

Rouge fell to his knees and his hands went to his face, but his eyes never left the glassy surfaces of Rex LeBay's empty brown eyes. His red hair had fallen into his own brown eyes, unnoticed as he reached out one shakey hand and touched Rex's outstretched, tattoo and blood covered arm.

"Rex," he said in a barely audible, shaking whisper.

Chase stepped forward, his hand raised, and clicked his fingers. Without a single sound, Rouge's nose and mouth elonginated into a snout, his hands and feet curled up into paws and orange and black fur grew from his skin as he transformed into a tiger.The tiger sat down, its tail curled around itself and still those brown eyes never left Rex's tortured body. Chase now held up a golden star shaped Shen Gong Wu with a picture of a silver cresent moon in the centre.

"Sleeping Star," he said. Silvery like, almost like moonlight, drifted towards the silent tiger and circled around it. The tiger's eyelids drooped slightly and it lay down, resting its head on its front paws, its front paws resting on Rex's arm. Rouge LeBay fell into a deep, never ending sleep.

The rocky hands holding the warriors in place crumbled. The palace began to shake around them. Heavy chunks of rock fell from the ceiling and walls and crashed to the floor. Without Rouge's power to sustain it, the palace was collapsing.

"Everyone, out!" Master Fung ordered urgently. Dojo supersized. Clay gathered Kimiko into his arms and climbed onto Dojo's back. Raimundo tried to get his his feet but his legs gave out beneath him immediately and he fell to the floor again. Master Fung swung an arm around Raimundo's shoulders and pulled him to his feet. The whole ceiling was beginning to fall in now, as well as the rooms above it. Chase had vanished but the bag of Shen Gong Wu was on the floor where he had stood.

Master Fung and Omi helped Raimundo climb onto Dojo's back. Master Fung then grabbed the bag of Shen Gong Wu and climbed abourd Dojo himself. Dojo began to rise off the floor.

"Rex!" Omi cried, looking desperately at Rex's body as rocks tumbled down around them.

"I'm sorry kid, there's no time," Dojo said. He swooped up through the whole opened in the ceiling and they left the puzzlebox, the tiger and Rex's body behind. It wasn't what he deserved.

**It'd really make my day if you'd review so please, please do. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's only one more left now! I'll update as soon as I can.**


	16. The End

**Well, here it is. The last chapter. I want to thank everyone who reviewed and read this story all the way through without getting bored. I'd especially like to thank the people who reviewed anonymously because I couldn't send them a personal message to thank them properly.**

**It's just a short chapter but I hope you like it.**

**Chapter 16**

**The End**

The Xiaolin warriors tumbled off Dojo's back onto the marshy lawn of the Xiaolin Temple. Clay held Kimiko in his arms. She was regaining consciousness but she was still in a great deal of pain. Raimundo had one arm around Master Fung's shoulders and one around Omi's, causing him to be slightly lopsided, but at least he was upright. They stood and watched at the grey clouds rolled off into the distance like clouds on a sped up nature programme, revealing bright blue skies and strong, golden sunlight. It washed over them, warming them, rewarding them for what they had achieved. Except they hadn't really achieved anything, but none of them said it.

"I belive Kimiko and Raimundo need to be taken to the hospital room," Master Fung said. He helped Raimundo limp into the Temple. Clay followed, Kimiko in his arms. Dojo stayed outside for a moment longer, sure he had just seen a tiny black dot flying over the Temple, heading for Chase's palace. Then his gaze turned back to the fallen palace. He smiled sadly and followed his friends inside.

**.:.:.:.**

Kimiko and Raimundo were both resting peacefully in beds side by side in the hospital room. Omi, Clay and Dojo sat on the rapidly drying lawn in the Temple grounds, relishing the sunlight. It felt like years since they had bathed in the sun's warm glow.

"I want to collect Rex's body," Omi said at last.

"Omi...he's probably been crushed by the palace when it collapsed," Clay said.

"Even so, I think we should look. We should never have left him. He saved our lives," Omi said. "We did nothing."

"We caught Wuya," Clay said, somewhat defencevly.

"No, Raimundo caught Wuya because they attacked Kimiko. So what did we gain from that? Chase defeated Rouge. And Rouge killed Rex. Rex saved us," Omi said. His black eyes never left the area where the palace had been not three hours ago.

"Besides, I want to put that puzzlebox somewhere no one will find it this time," Omi said. He nodded slightly, agreeing with himself.

"There's no stopping you is there?" Dojo asked.

"Rex didn't have to die for us, he was supposed to be evil, but he chose to defend us with his own life. We cannot just leave him," Omi got to his feet and looked at Dojo. Dojo sighed then supersized and Omi climbed onto his back.

"Clay, please come," Omi said. Clay just looked at Omi for a moment and then clambered onto Dojo's back behind him. Dojo took off.

**.:.:.:.**

Raimundo jerked awake, covered in cold sweat. He sat up, gasping. It took him a moment to remember where he was and when it came to him, he looked to his right to see Kimiko sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed. He smiled, relieved. He had dreamed he hadn't stopped Wuya and Chase quick enough and they had killed Kimiko.

His bedsheets were twisted, meaning he had thrashed about in his sleep a fair bit. He ran his fingers through his lank, dirty hair. He untangled his legs from the bed covers and placed his feet silently on the floor. With his hands placed on the bed beside himself for support, he carefully lifted himself off the mattress. His legs shook warningly and he sat down again. He looked at Kimiko. She moved slightly, making a little noise in the back of her throat which made Raimundo smile. Then she was still again.

There was a glass of cool water on his bedside table and Raimundo reached over and picked it up and drank it greedily. It was the first decent drink hed had since he'd followed Kimiko through the Tiger Claws right into Rouge's palace. His stomach cramped and he felt like he was going to be sick but the feeling passed quickly. After his thirst was quenched, he started to realise how hingry he was. He hadn't been fed at all for just over a week. Memories of being chained in that nightmare of a room, Wuya looming over him, tried to force their way into his mind but he pushed them back. He tried to stand up again. This time he managed to get up but his legs wobbled again and he flung his arms out for balance. He was standing but he was sure if tried to walk he was fall for sure. He flopped back down on the bed with a sigh and his stomach grumbled angrilly.

**.:.:.:.**

Rouge's palace was nothing but a huge heap of dusty rubble. Dojo touched down lightly beside it and shrank after Omi and Clay had climbed off. He settled himself around the brim of Clay's hat. Omi was canning the area with his sharp, black eyes, searching for danger. Then he began to climb through the rubble. Clay followed.

They dug. They dug for hours. There was so much debris. The palace had been so _big_.

"Omi," Clay said. His voice sounded strange and wrong in the atmosphere, like talking loudly in a library. "Over here." Omi went to Clay silently and looked down. There was a clearing where no rock had landed at all, as if by a miracle...or by magic. They hadn't seen it because of the pile of rock around it. In the centre was a tiger, sleeping, perfectly still and silent, its tail curled around the puzzlebox, its head on the arm of Rex's dead body. They had been completely unharmed in the collapse of the palace, as if there was an invisible forcefield around them and the falling rocks had just bounced off it.

Omi knelt beside Rex, opposite tiger-Rouge, and gently closed Rex's eyes properly. If not for the blood, he could been simpley sleeping like the tiger.

"What do you want to do, kid?" Dojo asked kindly.

"Rex should have been our enemy, but he helped us so much. He was never nasty to any of us and in the end, we'd _all_ be dead if he hadn't of stopped Rouge hurting Raimundo. I want to take him back to the Temple and bury him," Omi said. Dojo nodded.

"What about him?" Clay asked, his blue eyes filling with hate as he looked at Rouge.

"I know just what to do with him _and_ Wuya," Omi said.

Several minutes later, Dojo had supersized and Rex's body was laid carefully across his back. Clay looked nervously at the tiger and he crouched down next to it. He grimaced as he put his arms underneath it and lifted it off the ground. It didn't even stir. He climbed onto Dojo's back behind Rex's body. Omi collected the puzzlebox and slipped inbetween Clay and Rex. Dojo took off, heading back to the Temple.

**.:.:.:.**

Master Fung was waiting in the Temple grounds for them when they arrived back at the Temple. He picked Rex up.

"You did a noble thing, young monks," Master Fung said to Omi and Clay. They said nothing.

**.:.:.:.**

Clay offered to make Rex's grave using his element but Omi refused. Omi dug it himself. He was string but it still took him hours and it was dark ny the time he had finished. He climbed out, ignoring the pain of the blisters on his hands from the shovel. He tossed the shovel aside and went inside the Temple to tell his friends the grave was ready.

**.:.:.:.**

The night air was chilly, but a lot warmer than it had been for the past week. Rex's unprotected body was placed carefully at the bottom of the grave Omi had dug for him. Omi, Clay, Master Fung and Dojo were stood around the mouth of the grave. Kimiko and Raimundo were in wheelchairs.

"Would anyone like to say anything?" Master Fung said softly.

"...Rex shouldn't have died," Omi said. "He was supposed to be our enemy but he chose to take his own life to defend us. I think, if we had all gotten through this live, he wouldn't have gone back to the dark side. I don't think he would have joined the force of good, but he would not have become our enemy. He was a good man, really. He just wanted to help."

"He wasn't useless like Rouge and Wuya said," Clay stated. "He was just too kind-hearted for them. I reckon he _could_ have taken on Rouge if he wanted, but that was his big brother and he _didn't_ want to. So he just took whatever Rouge threw at him." A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the trees and blew the monks' hair gently around their faces.

"He should have let Rouge kill me," Raimundo sat. His eyes were filled with glittering tears and were fixed on the open grave.

"I deserve to die more than he did. I saved Kimiko's life but I've nearly got the whole lot of you killed before so it maes no difference. I was good and I chose to join the Heyling side. He was evil and he chose to help us instead. In the end, he chose us over his own life."

Kimiko glanced sideways at Raimundo and saw the tears spilling down his cheeks.

"We hardley know anything about Rex LeBay," Raimundo said, his voice raising ever so slightly. "But we know he must have lived for _thousands_ of years. Thousands of years with Rouge and Wuya and I don't think his parents really appreciated him either. He was always a good man, deep down and he had to put up with thousands of years of seeing people suffer. _Millions_ of them dying at Wuya and his own brother's hands. I had a week long preview of what Wuya is capable of it was like a living hell. I ended up hoping she'd just kill me straight away instead of dragging it out. But I know she could have done so much more damage. Damage no one could even imagine. It'd probably send you insane just thinking about it." Raimundo wiped tears furiously from his cheekes with his sleeves, then he said, in a voice that was barely a whisper, yet it carried across the Temple grounds like the soft breeze swimming through their hair, "In the end, I think he welcomed death."

Kimiko's eyes were swimming with tears as well. She hadn't even spoke to Rex much and to be honest, she hadn't really liked him, but he had died to save Raimundo's life. And probably all of their lives. And she couldn't help but think, _"Why couldn't he have done that before daddy was murdered?"_ and she hated herself for it.

"Rest in peace, Rex LeBay," Omi said quietly.

**.:.:.:.**

The next day dawned bright and warm, as if the past week had never happened, but the pile of freshly dug earth in the Temple grounds that was Rex's final resting place begged to differ. The mood was no lighter inside the Temple. It was quiet. No one spoke much. They were all gathered around the kitchen table, as they had been so many times before. Kimiko was still in a lot of pain but she was able to walk on her own now. Raimundo was still in the wheelchair.

"What happened to the Shen Gong Wu?" Kimiko asked.

"Master Fung put them all back in the vault," Clay replied. His hat was off and he was fiddling with it uncomfortably. Silence.

"I wonder why Rouge wanted them," Omi said. "Do you think he planned to use them eventually? Or was he afraid we'd use them on him?" More silence. All of the Shen Gong Wu stolen had been ones that would do a lot of damage but the only ones he'd used were the Serpent's Tail, the Reversing Mirror, the Possession Necklace and the Sleeping Star.

"What happened to Hannibal Bean?" Omi asked suddenly.

"I have reason to believe Chase Young took care of him," Dojo replied, thinking of that dark shape he had seen flying over the Temple. Kimiko wasn't listening. She was thinking about what Omi had said about Rouge not wanting them to use the Shen Gong Wu against him. It was certainly plausable. If he was going to use them himself, he would have done quite early on, but he didn't. She thought about the Shadow of Fear.

_"I wonder what Rouge's worst fear is,"_ Kimiko thought and her mind drifted to the image of that tiger, sleeping so peacefully. A tiny smile graced her lips. Raimundo looked at her and smiled as if he had read her thoughts.

"What are we going to do if someone finds Rouge and wakes him up with the Sleeping Star?" Clay asked. No one else had noticed Kimiko and Raimundo's secret smiles.

"Master Fung destroyed the Sleeping Star with the Kazuzu Atom. Rouge and Hannibal Bean will never wake up," Dojo said. Silence fell in the kitchen once more.

**.:.:.:.**

In the Xiaolin Temple's deepest vault, the one that was so heavily guarded, beside the chest hiding the Heylin seed away from sunlight and water, a tiger slept on. Its tail curled around its hind legs, its head on its left front paw and its right front paw placed protectively on an old, dusty puzzlebox.

And there it remained for all eternity.

**Thank you again for reading and reviewing. Now would be a good time to review and tell me what you think of the story as a whole, like, the plot and that and how I could maybe improve my characters or other aspects of my writing. It's appreciate it. Also, I'm **_**considering**_** a sequel, I do have some ideas in mind, but I'm not sure, so let me know what you think. Thank you again haha.**


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